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AUTHOR: 


OVIDIUS  NASO,  PUBLIUS 


TITLE: 


OVID:  TRISTIA,  BOOK 


PLACE: 


OXFORD 


DA  TE : 


1902 


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PRESERVATION  DEPARTMENT 


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BIBLIOGRAPHIC  MICROFORM  TARGET 


Original  Material  as  Filmed  -  Existing  Bibliographic  Record 


870T 
IF02 


Ovidius  Maso,  Publius. 

Oyid:  Tristia,  book  I;  the  text  revised,  with 
an  introduction  and  notes,  by  S.  G.  Ovven, 
3d  ed.,  rev,  Oxford,  Clarendon  press,  1902, 

Ixiii,  107  p.   (Clarendon  press  series) 


Restrictions  on  Use: 


rxn 


I 


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THE  LIBRARIES 


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OVID 

TRISTIA    BOOK    I 


THE    TEXT    REVISED 


WITH  AN  INTRODUCTION  AND   NOTES 


BY 


S.  G.  OWEN,  M.A. 


STUDENT 


AND  TUTOR  OF  CHRIST  CHURCH,  OXFORD 


THIRD  EDITION,  REVISED 


\ 


1  » 


OXFORD 
U'TTHE   CLARTLNJ30N   PRESS 

1902 


If ' '' 


HENRY   FROWDE,   M.A. 

PUBLISHER  TO  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  OXFORD 

LONDON,   EDINBURGH 

NEW   YORK 


U^iCA^ 


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PREFACE 

Besides  the  commentary  of  Lors  (1839)  I  have  used 
the  notes  of  the  earlier  commentators ;  those  from  whom  I 
have  learnt  most  are  Merula,  Ciofanus,  Micyllus,  Pontanus, 
N.  Heinsius,  and  Burmann,  and  from  the  admirable  critical 
edition  of  the  late  Rudolph  Merkel. 

The  two  monographs  by  Dr.  G.  Graeber— referred  to 
respectively  as  Graeber  I  and  Graeber  II— L  Quaesttonum 
Ovidianarum  pars  prior,  Elberfeld,  1881,  and  II.  Unier- 
suchungen  uber  Ovtds  Briefe  aus  der  Verbannung,  Elberfeld, 
1884,  are  a  model  of  cautious  criticism  and  wide  learning, 
and  I  am  greatly  indebted  to  them  for  the  matter  of  In- 
troduction §  III.  I  have  also  used  Koch,  Prosopographme 
Ovidianae  elemmia,  Vratislav.  1865;  Lorentz,  i?^  amicorum 
in  Ovidii  Trisiibus  personis,  Lips.  1881 ;  Hennig,  De  P. 
Ovidii  Nasonis  poetae  sodalibus,  Vratislav.  1883;  Schulz, 
Quaestiones  Ovidianae,  Gryphiswald.  1883;  Washietl,  De 
similiiudinibus  imaginibusque  OvidianiSy  Vindobon.  1883; 
Wartenberg,  Quaestiones  Ovidianae  (Berlin,  1884).  Some 
slight  alterations  and  corrections  have  been  made  in  this 
edition,  which  is  substantially  the  same  as  the  second. 

Oxford,  1901. 


CONTENTS. 


Introduction. 

§  I.  The  Life  of  Ovid 

§11.  The  Works  of  Ovid 

§111.  The  Friends  and  Patrons  of  Ovid  addressed 
in  the  Tristia  and  Pontic  Epistles  . 

§  IV.  On  the  Cause  of  Ovid*s  Banishment    . 

§  V.  The  Literary  Value  of  the  Tristia 

§  VI.  On  the  Text  of  the  Tristia    .        .        .        . 


Text 


Notes 


Appendix 


Index 


PAGE 

xi 
xxiii 

xxvii 
xlix 

liv 
lix 


27 


97 


103 


I 


INTRODUCTION. 


I. 

The  Life  of  Ovid. 

PUBLivs  OviDivs  Naso^  was  born  at  Sulmo',  now  Sol- 
mona,  a  little  town  situated  amongst  the  cold,  well-watered  hiLs 
of  the  Paeligni,  one  of  the  Sabine  races  of  ancient  Italy  ,  in 
711/43,  the  year  in  which  the  consuls  C.  Vibius  Pansa  and 
A.  Hirtius  defeated  Antony  at  Mutina ;  though  Hirtius  was 
killed  in  the  battle,  and  Pansa  died  not  long  afterwards  from 
his  wounds  K  The  self-consciousness  of  Ovid  has  furnished 
the  biographer  with  very  full  materials  for  writing  his  life^  and 
we  are  enabled  to  fix  March  20th  as  the  precise  day  of  the  month 
on  which  his  birthday  fell  \ 

1  The  praenomen  and  ncmen  gentile  are  well  established  by  the 
authority  of  both  {a)  MSS.  and  (^)  ancient  authors;  the  cognomen 
occurs  frequently  in  his  writings. 

*  T.  iv.  10.  3 :  ,       .  J- 

•  Sulmo  mihi  patria  est,  gelidis  ubernmus  undis, 
milia  qui  noviens  distat  ab  urbe  decern.' 
»  See  Am.  ii.  1. 1 ;  16.  37  \  i"-  ^5.  3 ;  ?•  iv.  14-  49  J  F-  i^.  81. 

*  T.  iv.  10.  5  : 

*editus  hinc  ego  sum  ;  nee  non,  ut  tempora  nons, 
cum  cecidit  fato  consul  uterque  pari.* 
s  See  especially  T.  iv.  10,  which  is  a  brief  autobiography. 

•T.iv.  10.13:  •     . 

«haec  est  armiferae  festis  de  qumque  Mmervae, 
quae  fieri  pugna  prima  cruenta  solet : ' 
i  e.  the  second  day  of  the  festival  Quinquatrtis  maiores  in  March 
which  began  on  the  19th,  and  lasted  for  five  days;  and  was  the  chief 


xn 


INTRODUCTION, 


His  father  belonged  to  an  old  and  respected  equestrian  family; 
and  though  not  in  the  possession  of  enormous  wealth,  enjoyed  a 
tolerable  competency  ^  The  poet's  frequent  complaints  of 
poverty  in  the  youthful  Amores^,  coupled  with  the  confession 
that  the  father  restricted  the  allowance  of  the  naturally  too 
luxurious  son^  lead  to  the  inference  that  he  was  a  man  of 
careful  habits,  who  by  saving  and  management  increased  his 
property,  which  must  have  been  worth  a  million  sesterces  or 
upwards,  the  amount  of  a  Senator's  qualifying  estate  *.  For  the 
poet  tells  us  that  along  with  the  toga  virilis  he  assumed  the 
latus  ciavusy  the  broad  purple  stripe  down  the  front  of  the  tunic, 
which  originally -distinguished  Senators  from  Equites,  who  wore 
the  angustus  clavus,  but  which  was  conceded  by  Augustus  to 
the  sons  of  Equites,  who  possessed  a  senatorial  census'. 

Ovid,  the  second  of  two  sons,  was  exactly  a  year  junior  to  his 
elder  brother  ^  The  two  were  educated  together  at  Rome  under 
the  best  masters ;  and  the  elder  entered  with  enthusiasm 
upon  the  career  of  an  advocate,  for  which  he  was  by  nature 
well  fitted;  but  unfortunately  died  in  his  twenty-first  year^ 
Ovid  himself  had  no  liking  for  the  law,  but  from  childhood  was 
devoted  to  poetry.  But  in  obedience  to  his  father's  advice  he 
endeavoured  to  devote  himself  to  more  serious  subjects,  and 

holiday  of  the  Roman  year  (Mayor,  luv.  x.  T15).     This  feast  was  cele- 
brated with  gladiatorial  contests,  which  began  on  the  second  day  (F  iii 
811  ff.),  the  day  of  Ovid's  birth. 

*  T.  ii.  iioflF. ;  iv.  10.  7-8. 

»  i.  3.  9;  8.  66;  ii.  17.  27;  iii.  8.  I  ff.;  A.  A.  ii.  165. 
'  Am.  i.  3.  10 : 

'teraperat  et  sumptns  parcus  nterque  parens.' 

*  Becker-Marquardt,  ii.  3.  219-220. 

*  T.  iv.  10.  29  : 

Mnduiturque  umeris  cum  lato  purpura  clavo.' 

*  T.  iv.  10.  9  : 

'genito  sum  fratre  creatus, 
qui  tribus  ante  quater  mensibus  ortus  erat, 
Lucifer  amborum  natalibus  adfuit  idem ; 
una  celebrata  est  per  duo  liba  dies.' 
'  T.  iv.  10. 15  ff.,  31-32. 


LIFE  OF  OVID, 


Xiu 


attended  the  rhetorical  schools  of  the  two  chief  teachers  of 
declamation,  Arellius  Fuscus  and  Porcius  Latro.  To  this  influ- 
ence is  due  the  strong  rhetorical  colouring  which  tinges  his 
style  *  ;  and  which  is  interestingly  illustrated  in  the  criticisms  of 
the  elder  Seneca  ^. 

In  the  meantime,  however,  he  had  composed  some  at  any  rate 
of  the  Amores  ;  for  these  he  recited  in  public  in  his  twenty-first 
year,  and  at  once  established  his  claims  to  be  considered  among 
the  leading  poets  ^.  At  some  period  early  in  his  life  he  travelled 
on  a  *  grand  tour '  in  company  with  his  friend  and  fellow  poet 
Macer,  visiting  Greece  and  the  famous  cities  of  Asia  Minor, 
and  staying  for  nearly  a  year  in  Sicily  in  the  course  of  his 
return  *. 

Having  thus  finished  his  education  after  the  approved  mode 
he  settled  down  at  Rome.  For  public  life  he  had  little  aptitude  ; 
though  we  find  that  when  quite  a  young  man,  probably  before 
his  Asiatic  tour,  he  held  some  of  the  minor  judicial  offices  which 
preceded  the  quaestorship,  and  are  often  collectively  described 
as  the  vigintiviratus.  Thus  he  tells  us  that  he  was  one  of  the 
tresviri  capttales^,  whose  business  was  to  execute  capital 
sentences,  bum  books,  &c. ;  that  he  was  one  of  the  decemviri 
stlitibus  iudicandis^y  a  board  who  were  made  by  Augustus 
presidents  of  the  centumviral  courts  ;  that  he  was  one  of  the 
centumviri'^ ^  a  court  which  adjudicated  upon  civil  actions,  chiefly 


^  See  especially  the   celebrated  speeches  of  Ajax  and  Ulysses  in 
M.  xiii.  init. 

*  See  M.  Seneca,  Controv.  ii.  10.  8  flf. 
»  T.  iv.  10.  57  ff. 

*  T.  i.  2.  78  n. ;  i.  8  introd. ;  P.  ii.  10.  21  ff. ;  F.  vi.  423. 

*  T.  iv.  10.  34 : 

*  Deque  viris  quondam  pars  tribus  una  fui.* 
«  F.  iv.  384  : 

'inter  bis  quinos  usus  honore  viros.* 

»T.  ii.93: 

*nec  male  conmissa  est  nobis  fortuna  reorum. 
Usque  decern  deciens  inspicienda  viris.' 
P.  iii.  5.  23.    For  the  centumviral  court  see  Wilkins  on  Cic.  de  Or.  i.  §  1 73. 


:l| 


XIV 


INTRODUCTION, 


LIFE  OF  OVID, 


XV 


affecting  property  and  inheritances ;  and  lastly,  that  from  time 
to  time  he  acted  as  a  private  arbitrator  ^ 

But  he  soon  abandoned  all  thoughts  of  public  ambition, 
and  of  entering  the  Senate,  for  which  he  felt  himself  unfitted 
both  by  inclination  and  physical  weakness'^;  and  lived  in 
quietness  and  ease,  passing  his  time  partly  at  Rome,  and  partly 
in  the  retirement  of  his  gardens  on  the  Via  Clodia'^,  His  lot 
was  now  indeed  a  fortunate  one  ;  he  had  attained  during  his 
life-time  to  that  immortality,  which  is  rarely  conceded  until 
after  death*.  His  reputation  was  such  that  he  was  publicly 
acknowledged  to  be  the  successor  to  Gallus,  TibuUus,  and 
Propertius  in  the  series  of  Roman  elegiac  poets  ^  He  enjoyed 
the  patronage  and  friendship  of  many  powerful  men  ;  the  circle 
of  his  personal  friends  and  acquaintances  was  a  very  wide  one  ^. 
He  was  the  centre  of  a  brilliant  literary  society,  which  numbered 
in  its  ranks  all  the  poets  of  the  day  of  any  consideration.  Vergil 
he  had  only  seen  ;  Horace  he  had  heard  recite  ;  Tibullus  died 
too  young  for  his  friendship  ;  but  Propertius  was  joined  to  him 
by  the  close  tie  oisodalicium  ^.  A  host  of  younger  poets  clustered 
round  him,  most  of  whom  are  unfortunately  scarcely  more  than 
names  to  us.  Amongst  these,  besides  Cornelius  Severus,  Albino- 
vanus  Pedo,  Celsus,  Macer,  Tuticanus,  and  Carus,  who  will  be 
spoken  of  later  **,  there  were  Montanus,  Rabirius,  and  L.  Varius 
Rufus,  who  sang  the  glories  of  the  Empire  in  epic  verse  ^;  there 

^  T.  ii.  95 : 

*res  quoque  privatas  statu!  sine  crimine  iudex, 
deque  mea  fassa  est  pars  quoque  victa  fide.* 

*  T.  iv.  10.  35  £f. 
'  xi.  37  n. 

*  T.  iv.  ID.  121 : 

*  tu  mihi,  quod  rarum  est,  vivo  sublime  dedisti 
nomen,  ab  exsequiis  quod  dare  fama  solet.* 

*  T.  ii.  463  ff. ;  iv.  ID.  51  ff. 

«  See  inf.  §  III.  "^  T.  iv.  10.  46  ff.  »  Inf.  §  III. 

»  Rabirius  wrote  a  description  of  the  Battle  of  Actium  and  the  flight 
of  Antony  and  Cleopatra  into  Egypt ;  Hennig,  De  P.  Ovidii  Nasonis 
poetae  sodalibus,  p.  1 1,  to  which  admirable  monograph  I  am  indebted  for 
the  particulars  about  the  writers  here  mentioned. 


was  Valerius  Largus,  whose  poem  on  the  wanderings  of  Agenor 
united  Greek  and  Roman  legend  after  the  manner  of  Vergil  ; 
there  were  adapters  of  the  Greek  epos,— Lupus,  who  sang  the 
wanderings  of  Helen  and  Menelaus  ;  Camerinus,  who  wrote  a 
Latin  continuation  of  the  Iliad  in  imitation  of  the  Cyclic  poets  ; 
Tuscus,  whose  Phyllis  dealt  probably  with  the  legend  of  Phyllis 
and  Demophoon  ;  Ponticus,  who  wrote  a  Thebais  ;  and  Domitius 
Marsus,  whose  Amazonis  told  the  famous  story  of  the  fight 
between  Theseus  and  the  Amazons.    There  were  the  didactic 
poets— Aemilius  Macer,  and   Gratius  ;   Macer  an  imitator  of 
Nicander,  who   composed  an  Ornithogonia  on  the  habits  of 
birds,  a   Theriaca  upon  antidotes,  and  a  De  Herbis  on   the 
virtues  of  plants^ ;  and  Gratius,  the  541  surviving  lines  of  whose 
Cynegetica  are  a  dry  and  uninteresting  metrical  treatise  on  the 
chase.    There  was  Sabinus,  whose  heroic  epistles  were  cast  in 
the  same  manner  as  those  of  Ovid^  ;  the  epigrammatists  Bassus 
and  Capella  ;  Proculus,  the  imitator  of  Callimachus  ;  Fontanus, 
who  sang  of  the  Loves  of  the  Nymphs  and  the  Satyrs  ;  Titius 
Rufus,  who  attempted  to  transplant  the  lyric  of  Pindar  into 
Latin  ;  the  tragedians  Gracchus  and  Turranius  ;  and  the  author 
of  many  comedies  {togatae),  C.  Melissus,  the  learned  freedman 
of  Maecenas,  and  librarian  by  the  Emperor's  appointment  of  the 
library  of  the  Porticus  Octavia. 

Nor  was  Ovidonthewhole  less  fortunate  in  his  domestic  circum- 
stances. His  father  reached  the  ripe  age  of  ninety,  and  his  mother 
must  have  lived  to  a  great  age,  for  both  died  a  few  years  only 
before  his  exile  ^  Though  three  times  a  husband,  in  the  first  two 
cases  the  union  was  of  short  duration.  To  his  first  wife,  whom 
he  naively  describes  as  unworthy  of  himself*,  he  was  married 

»  Hennig,  p.  34 ;  Peter,  Fasti,  p.  3. 

*  The  three  letters  sometimes  found  ascribed  to  Sabinus  at  the  end  of 
Ovid's  Heroides  are  a  forgery  by  a  sixteenth-century  Italian  named 
Angelus  Sabinus. 

9  T.  iv.  10.  77-80. 

*  T.  iv.  10.  69-70  : 

*  paene  mihi  puero  nee  digna  nee  ntilis  uxor 
est  data,  quae  tempus  per  breve  nupta  fuit' 


XVI 


INTRODUCTION. 


when  almost  a  boy  ^  but  they  were  soon  divorced,  and  his  wife's 
character  does  not  seem  to  have  been  unimpeachable.     Of  his 
second  wife  we  know  only  that  she  too,  though  by  his  own  admis- 
sion  blameless,  was  soon  dismissed  I     One  of  these  two  wives 
came  of  the  Etrurian  tribe  whose  chief  town  was  Falerii ;  though 
the  poet's  language  does  not  enable  us  to  determine  which  \ 
His  liaison  with  Corinna,  the  mistress  whom  he  celebrated  in 
the  Amores,  may  be  assigned  either  to  the  period  intervening 
between  his   first  and  second,   or  that   between   his    second 
and  third  marriage  *.     In  his  third  wife  he  was  more  fortunate, 
bhe  was  a  person  of  some  consideration,  for  she  belonged  to  the 
gens  Fabta,  and  thus  was  connected  with  his  powerful  patron 
PauUus  Fabius  Maximus,  with  whose  wife  Marcia  she  was  on 
mtimate  terms  ;  and  was  even  a  friend  of  the  Empress  Livia  " 
Consequently  this  marriage  seemed  to  promise  great  material 
advantages,  and  more  especially  the  favour  of  the  Imperial 
house,  though  we  are  hardly  justified  in  supposing  with  Boissier« 
that  It  was  a  mere  arrangement  of  convenience,  and  destitute  of 
affection,  for  he  always  speaks  of  this  wife  with  great  warmth  of 
feeling,  and  praises  highly  her  faithfulness  to  himself,  and  the 
courage  and  constancy  with  which  she  defended  him  against 
the  frequent  attacks  of  the   merciless  private   enemy  ^  who 

;  He  may  have  been  married  at  fourteen  years  of  age,  when  a  boy 
might  contract  legal  matrimony  ;  the  age  for  giris  was  twelve.  Macrob. 
oat.  1.  9. 

^  T.  iv.  10.  71-72: 

'  illi  successit,  quamvis  sine  crimine  coniunx, 
non  tamen  in  nostro  firma  futura  tore  * 
'  Am.  iii.  13.  1 ;  Peter,  Fasti,  p.  5. 

*  As  there  are  no  traces  of  such  an  amour  in  the  period  of  his  second 
mamage  (Jahn.  Ov.  carm.  am.  p.  226).  and  as  he  gives  no  hint  that  it 
took  place  dunng  his  first,  I  hazard  this  conjecture,  though  the  evidence 
IS  too  scanty  to  make  it  more  than  probable.  Ovid's  language  is  too 
definite  to  warrant  K.  P.  Schulze's  assertion  that  Corinna  is  a  mere 
creation  of  the  poet's  fancy  (Beriiner  Philologische  Wochenschrift,  Jan. 
30,  1886,  p.  134).  *  T,  i  6  2«;  •  iv  TO  \\ 

*  L'Opposition  sous  les  C^sars,  p.  162.  ^  '     '  '^'  ^^' 

*  Against  whom  the  Ibis  is  directed. 


LIFE  OF  OVID. 


XVll 


endeavoured  to  despoil  the  absent  exile  of  his  property,  in  which 
difficult  task  she  received  counsel  and  assistance  from  her  uncle 
Rufus,  to  whom  P.  ii.  1 1  is  addressed  \ 

This  wife  survived  him ;  her  daughter  by  a  former  husband 
was  married  to  P.  Suillius  Rufus,  a  man  of  noble  family,  whose 
mother  Vistilia  was  also  by  other  husbands  the  mother  of  Domi- 
tius  Corbulo,  and  of  Caesonia,  wife  of  Gaius.  Suillius  acted 
as  quaestor  to  Germanicus,  and  the  poet,  in  the  only  letter  ad- 
dressed to  him,  P.  iv.  8,  begs  Suillius  to  procure  for  him  the 
favour  of  that  prince.  In  777/24  he  was  banished  by  Tiberius  for 
receiving  bribes  in  the  discharge  of  his  duties  as  a  judge  "^ ;  but 
under  Caligula  and  Claudius  he  again  entered  political  life, 
and  was  consul,  though  in  what  year  is  uncertain ;  and  in 
805/52  or  806/53,  towards  the  close  of  the  reign  of  Claudius, 
he  administered  Asia  as  proconsul.  He  was  possessed  ot 
considerable  oratorical  powers,  which  his  greed  led  him  to 
devote  to  attacking  wealthy  men.  Under  Nero  he  was  accused 
of  a  number  of  crimes,  and  condemned  in  his  old  age  to  banish- 
ment in  the  Balearic  Isles,  where  he  lived  on  for  some  time^ 

Ovid  had  one  daughter,  whose  name  he  never  mentions,  pos- 
sibly for  metrical  reasons  *,  though  he  makes  several  references 
to  her*.     We  are  not  directly  told  which  of  his  three  wives 

*  That  he  was  her  uncle  is  shown  by  the  words,  P.  ii.  11. 15  : 

•  namque  quod  Hermiones  Castor  fuit.  Hector  lull, 

hoc  ego  te  laetor  coniugis  esse  meae : 
quae,  ne  dissimilis  tibi  sit  probitate,  laborat, 
seque  tui  vita  sanguinis  esse  probat.' 
Koch,  Prosopogr.  Ov.  p.  23,  has  correctly  explained  that  the  reason  why 
Rufus  is  only  once  addressed  in  the  Pontic  Epistles  is  that,  though  a 
man  of  high  character,  towards  whom  the  poet  felt  grateful  regard,  he 
was  not  influential  with  the  Caesars,  and  thus  could  not  be  of  use 
towards  procuring  the  exile's  recall. 

*  Tac.  A.  iv.  31. 

*  *  Ferebaturque  copiosa  et  moUi  vita  secretum  illud  toleravisse,'  Tac. 
A.  xiii.  43.    See  Koch,  p.  27  ;  Graeber,  i.  x. 

*  This  ingenious  suggestion  I  owe  to  Constantius  Fanensis ;  Heca- 
tostys.  1508,  cap.  35. 

*  See  T.  i.  3.  19 ;  iv.  10.  75 ;  P.  i.  8.  32 ;  F.  vi.  219  if.  That  this 
daughter  was  not  the  poetess  Perilla,  addressed  in  T.  iii.  7,  has  been 

b 


I 


xvm 


INTRODUCTION, 


LIFE  OF  OVID, 


XIX 


was  her  mother,  but  the  following  considerations  show  her  to 
have  been  the  daughter  of  the  second.  She  was  no  longer  very 
young  at  the  period  of  his  exile,  for  she  had  been  twice  married, 
and  had  given  birth  to  two  children  ^  Hence,  as  his  third  wife 
is  described  as  being  at  that  time  still  iuvenis  ^  she  can  hardly 
have  been  the  daughter  of  that  wife.  Again,  speaking  of  his 
departure  from  Rome  in  T.  i.  3.  97,  he  says  of  his  wife,— 

*nec  gemuisse  minus  quam  si  nataeque  virique 
vidisset  structos  corpus  habere  rogos.* 

Now,  as  his  third  wife  had,  by  a  former  husband,  a  daughter  of 
her  own,  married  to  Suillius  Rufus,  if  Ovid's  daughter  had  also 
been  her  daughter,  he  would  have  written  natarum  rather  than 
naiae.  Further,  in  celebrating  his  third  wife's  birthday,  he 
mentions  only  one  daughter  of  hers,  who  must  have  been  the 
daughter  by  her  former  husband  ^  Hence  it  follows  that  she 
was  not  the  daughter  of  his  third  wife.  And  as  he  speaks  so 
slightingly  of  his  first  wife  — which  he  would  hardly  have 
wounded  the  feelings  of  his  daughter  by  doing,  had  she  been 
her  mother  — and  as  he  lived  for  some  time  apparently  on 
happy  terms  with  his  second  wife,  it  is  probable  that  she  was 
the  daughter  of  his  second  wife*.  About  this  daughter  we 
know  little.  She  was  twice  married,  as  we  have  seen  :  her 
second   husband  was  Fidus   Cornelius,  a  senator,  whom  she 

conclusively  shown  by  Masson,  Vit.  Ov.  p.  ill,  ed.  Fischer,  and  Lors 
mtr.  to  iii.  7 ;  and  it  is  strange  that  this  misconception  should  have  been 
revived  by  some  modem  writers,  e.  g.  Teuffel,  Hist.  Rom.  Lit.  242.  2, 
Ramsay,  Selections,  p.  xv,  and  Hallam,  Ovid's  Fasti,  p.  xii. 
^  T.  iv.  10.  75  : 

*fiha  me  mea  bis  prima  fecunda  iuventa, 
sed  non  ex  uno  coniuge,  fecit  avum.* 
^  P.  i.  4.  47  : 

*  te  quoque,  quam  iuvenem  discedens  urbe  reliqui, 
credibile  est  nostris  insenuisse  malis.* 
»  T.V.5. 19: 

*illa  domo  nataque  sua  patriaque  fruatur.' 
*  This  is  the  conclusion   of   Constantius  Fanensis  u.  j.  and  Lors 
Tnstia,  p.  433. 


accompanied  to  the  senatorial  province  of  Africa,  of  which  he 
was  probably  proconsul  in  761/8  \ 

The  love-poetry  of  Ovid's  life  reached  its  climax  in  the 
Ars  Amatoria,  a  book  distinguished  equally  for  its  brilliancy 
and  its  heartless  immorality.  The  topic  of  love  seemed  now 
to  be  exhausted,  and  the  poet  in  his  middle  age  turned  to 
more  serious  matter,  and  devoted  himself  to  the  composition 
of  the  Metamorphoses  and  the  Fasti.  In  these  labours  he 
was  suddenly  interrupted.  In  the  fifty-first  year  of  his  age,  in 
the  autumn  of  762/9,  when  in  attendance  upon  his  powerful 
friend  M.  Aurelius  Cotta,  as  one  of  his  suite,  in  the  island  of 
Ilva  (Elba),  a  mandate  was  suddenly  brought  to  him  from  the 
Emperor,  informing  him  that  his  Ars  Amatoria  was  expelled 
from  the  public  libraries,  and  that  he  must  quit  Rome  and  take 
up  his  residence  as  a  *  relegatus,'  the  mildest  form  of  banish- 
ment ^  at  Tomi,in  Moesia,— near  the  modem  Kustendsche,— on 
the  western  coast  of  the  Pontus  Euxinus,  which  was  one  of  the 
numerous  frontier  fortresses  {castella)  that  defended  the  Empire 
against  the  incursions  of  barbarians  ^  On  receiving  the  news  of  his 
banishment  he  repaired  to  Rome  in  order  to  arrange  his  affairs  % 
and  left  it  at  some  time  in  November  (intr.  to  El.  iv.  p.  51), 
sailing  to  Lechaeum,  where  he  crossed  the  Isthmus  of  Corinth, 
and  took  ship  again  from  Cenchreae  to  Samothrace  ;  from  this 
place  he  sent  his  effects  on  to  Tomi  in  the  ship  in  which  he  had 
come,  and,  after  staying  at  Samothrace,  proceeded  on  land 
through  Thrace  in  the  spring  of  763/10  (Wartenberg,  p.  16). 
He  seems  in  the  course  of  his  journey  to  have  lost  much  of  his 
property,  through  the  dishonesty  of  those  who  accompanied  him^ 

1  T.  i.  3. 19  n.  ;  M.  Sen.  dial.  ii.  17. 

'  See  note  in  Appendix  on  ii.  72. 

'  T.  iii.  9.  33  ;  iv.  10.  97  ;  Graeber  i.  iv.-vi.  The  name  Tomi  was 
etymologically  connected  with  ritivu ;  and  it  was  supposed  that  it  was 
here  that  Medea,  in  her  flight  from  Aeetes,  cut  up  the  body  of  her 
brother  Absyrtus,  T.  ui.  9.  33 ;  Masson,  Vit.  Ov.  p.  108 ;  Grote,  Hist. 

Gr.  i.  221. 

*  See  the  touching  description  of  his  last  night  at  Rome,  T.  i.  3. 

'  P.  ii.  7.  61-62.  In  the  course  of  his  journey  (on  which  see  intr.  to 
El  x  p.  83)  he  may  have  received  several  letters  from  his  wife  and  friends 

b2 


XX 


INTRODUCTION'. 


The  sentence  of  banishment  was  never  revoked,  either  by 
Augustus  or  his  successor  Tiberius.  The  unfortunate  poet 
spent  the  rest  of  his  days  in  composing  elegies,  in  which  he 
lamented  the  miseries  of  his  lot,  and  sought  by  flattery  and 
supphcation  to  conciliate  the  offended  Emperor  ^ 

The  latitude  of  Tomi  is  really  much  the  same  as  that  of 
Florence,  but  so  severe  was  its  climate  that  Ovid  persistently 
regards  it  as  lying  far  in  the  Arctic  circle  (El.  v.  6i  n.).  *  The 
town,'  he  says,  *  is  protected  in  summer  by  the  Danube  stream ; 
but  when  winter  comes  all  is  frost  and  deep  snow,  which  the 
sun    has  scarcely  power    to    thaw.    Nay,  sometimes    it  lies 

at  home  (Schulz,  Q.  O.  p.  7.  See  note  on  iii.  91)  ;  though  Wartenberg, 
p.  22,  doubts  this.  He  must  have  waited  till  the  spring  to  go  through 
Thrace  on  land ;  for  considering  the  severity  of  the  winter  in  those 
regions,  upon  which  he  so  frequently  enlarges,  such  a  journey  would 
have  been  at  that  season  impossible. 

*  Theconstantascriptionof  divinity  to  the  emperor  is  highly  offensive  to 
modem  European  taste,  but  it  may  be  doubted  whether  it  would  appear  in 
the  same  light  to  a  modern  Oriental.  The  abuse  which  is  lavished  upon  Ovid 
on  this  account  is  hardly  deserved.     It  has  been  well  shown  by  Professor 
Nettleship  that  the  cult  of  the  Caesars  arose  from  a  genuine  popular  feeling. 
•  What  seems  to  modem  sentiment  a  tasteless  falsehood  appeared  to  the 
religious  or  superstitious  temper  of  the  congeries  of  nations  then  forming 
the  Roman  world,  a  not  unnatural  development ;  the  exclusive  religion  of 
the  Roman  Republic  .  .  .  was  dissolving,  and  the  worship  of  Divus 
lulius  once  called  into  life  in  popular  feeling  and  observance,  the  flexible 
servility  of  Greek  paganism,  which  found  it  easy  and  natural  to  invest 
any  benefactor  of  mankind  with  divine  or  quasi-divine  honours,  united 
with  Oriental  extravagance  and  Roman  devotion  in  offering  homage  to 
the  visible  centre  of  Roman  greatness,  and  thus  virtually  bowing  to  the 
spirit  of  the  Roman  religion  in  its  new  embodiment'  (Essays,  p.  133). 
Instances  of  the  same  attitude  are  Prop.  iii.  4.  i ;  iv.  11.  60;  Hor.  C.  iii. 
3.  II  ;    Epp.  ii.  I.  16.     See  Tac.  A.  iv.  37;  Suet.  Aug.  59;  Sellars 
Vergil,  p.  14  ff.     Ovid  and  his  contemporaries  were  probably  not  more 
serious  when  they  spoke  of  *deus  Caesar,'  than  were  the  ancient 
cavaliers  in  the  language  they  employed  towards  their  mistresses.    *God 
and  the  ladies  were  familiarly  appealed  to  in  the  same  breath ;  and 
devotion  to  the  fair  sex  was  as  peremptorily  enjoined  upon  the  aspirant 

to  the  honour  of  chivalry  as  that  which  was  due  to  heaven.* Scott,  Fair 

Maid  of  Perth,  ch.  ii.     Cp.  Am.  ii.  11.  44. 


LIFE   OF  OVID, 


XXI 


throughout  the  whole  year,  and  one  year's  snow  is  piled  upon 
the  snow  of  another.  So  violent  is  the  north-wind  that  it  often 
levels  towers  and  carries  roofs  away.  .  .  .  The  shaggy  hair  of 
the  inhabitants  rattles  as  they  move  with  the  hanging  icicle  ; 
the  beard  is  white  and  glistening.  The  very  wine  freezes,  and 
the  Danube  itself  becomes  a  firm  mass  of  ice,  over  which  men 
and  horses  and  wains  of  oxen  can  safely  pass.  The  sea  freezes, 
and  I  myself  have  trod  its  slippery  surface.  The  ships  are 
stuck  fast,  and  fishes  are  closed  up  alive  in  ice.  The  bar- 
barian enemy  avails  himself  of  the  opportunity  to  cross  the 
frozen  river,  and  with  his  mounted  archers  overruns  the  whole 
country  side.  Cattle  and  waggons  and  all  the  farmer's  poor 
possessions  fall  a  prey  to  him ;  many  are  led  into  captivity  ; 
many  die  in  torments,  wounded  by  the  poisoned  arrows.  What 
they  cannot  carry  off  they  burn.  Even  in  time  of  peace  the 
constant  fear  of  war  blanches  every  cheek.  All  industry  is  at  a 
standstill.  Here  is  no  com  crop,  no  vineyard,  no  orchard, 
nothing  but  the  desolate  expanse  of  bare  and  treeless  fields  ^' 

The  dangerous  and  disturbed  condition  of  those  districts  is 
not  at  all  overstated  ^  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  there 
was  no  one  at  Tomi  to  offer  the  poet  literary  sympathy.  The 
place  was  so  remote  that  it  took  a  whole  year  to  communicate 
with  Rome,  six  months  each  way  ^  We  are  thus  enabled  to 
realise  the  force  of  the  persistent,  though  unavailing,  prayer  of 
the  unfortunate  exile,  that  the  place  of  his  banishment  might  at 
least  be  less  dangerously  situated  and  less  remote  *• 

1  T.  iii.  10.  7  ff.  See  similar  descriptions  in  v.  10.  15  ff^. ;  v.  12.  53 ; 
P.  ii.  7.  65  ff. ;  P.  iii.  8. 

^  The  constant  incursions  of  the  Dacae  were  one  of  the  frontier  diffi- 
culties of  the  empire:  Suet.  Aug.  21 ;  Hor.  C.  iii.  6. 14  ;  Sat.  ii.  6.  53  ; 
Mommsen  on  Mon.  Ancyr.  pp.  128-132. 

3  P.  iii.  4.  59  ;  iv.  11.  15. 

•T.ii.  577: 

*tutius  exilium  pauloque  quietius  ore, 

ut  par  delicto  sit  mea  poena  sue* 
Cp.  ibid,  185  ff. ;  iii.  6.  37  ;  8.  42  ;  v.  2.  77: 

'quod  petimus,  poena  est.    neque  enim  miser  esse  recuso, 
sed  precor,  ut  possim  tutius  esse  miser.' 


xxu 


INTRODUCTION, 


Yet  he  had  one  consolation,  for  he  won  the  appreciation  of 
the  inhabitants,  and  became  so  far  acclimatised  as  to  learn  the 
Getic  language^,  and  to  compose  in  it  a  poem  in  praise  of 
Augustus,  the  contents  of  which  he  briefly  summarizes  in  P.  iv. 
13.  19  ff.,  and  which,  had  it  been  preserved,  would  have  been 
of  incalculable  philological  interest.  It  was  no  doubt  in  recog- 
nition of  this  effort  that  he  received  a  crown  of  honour  from  the 
inhabitants  ^ 

He  died  at  Tomi  in  the  same  year  as  the  historian  Livy, 
770/17,  and  was  buried  near  the  town'.  In  person  Ovid  was 
slender  and  not  naturally  strong  ;  P.  i.  5.  51, — 

*hoc  quoque  me  studium  prohibent  adsnmere  vires, 
mensque  magis  gracili  corpore  nostra  valet.* 

ibid.  10.  21, — 

*is  quoque,  qui  gracili  cibus  est  in  corpore,  somnus, 
non  alit  officio  corpus  inane  suo :  * 

he  tells  us  that  his  complexion   was   naturally  good  ;    P.  i. 
10.  25, — 

*vix  igitnr  possis  visos  adgnoscere  vultus, 
quoque  ierit,  quaeras,  qui  fuit  ante  color/ 

his  habits  of  life  were  temperate  ;  P.  i.  10.  29, — 

'non  haec  inmodico  contraxi  damna  Lyaeo; 

scis,  mihi  quam  solae  paene  bibantur  aquae: 
non  epulis  oneror:  quarum  si  tangar  amore, 

est  tamen  in  Geticis  copia  nulla  locis : 
nee  vires  adimit  Veneris  damnosa  voluptas.' 

His  disposition,  according  to  M.  Seneca,  was  refined,  elegant. 


V.  10.  49 : 

*  memi  tamen  urbe  carere, 
non  memi  tali  forsitan  esse  loco.* 
See  Boissier,  p.  158. 

*  P.  iii.  2.  40. 

*  P.  iv.  9.  97  ff.  ;  14.  55  ff. 

'  Hieronym.  chron.  a.  Abr.  2033, «  Ovidius  poeta  in  exilio  diem  obiit 
et  iuxta  oppidum  Tomos  sepelitur.* 


WORKS  OF  OVID, 


xxui 


and  loveable^  ;  and  the  impression  gathered  from  his  writings 
is  that  of  a  gay,  careless,  kindly,  open-hearted  man,  in  whom 
there  was  little  of  evil,  if  little  depth  of  moral  character. 


II. 

The  Works  of  Ovid. 

The  writings  of  Ovid  fall  naturally  into  three  divisions :  (i) 
those  of  his  youth  ;  (2)  those  of  middle  life  ;  (3)  those  of  his 
latter  years  ;  and  the  style  and  subject-matter  of  the  poems  of 
the  three  periods  are  totally  distinct. 

I.  The  first  division  comprises  the  amatory  poems,  in  which 
style  of  composition  Ovid  was  unrivalled  among  his  countrymen. 

i.  Amorum  Libri  ///.—  Forty-nine  pieces,  celebrating  the 
amours  of  the  poet  and  his  mistress  Corinna.  There  were 
originally  five  books,  which  were  published  about  74o/i4  ; 
they  were  afterwards  reduced  to  the  recension  of  three,  which 
we  possess,  and  which  was  published  before  752-3/2-1, 
the  date  of  the  publication  of  the  Ars  Amatoria. 

ii.  Heroides.—K  collection  of  twenty-one  letters  in  elegiac 
verse,  purporting  to  have  been  written  by  ladies  of  heroic  renown 
to  their  absent  lovers.  Of  these  the  first  fourteen  alone  are  of 
undoubted  authenticity,  though  it  is  probable  that  some  at  least 
of  the  rest  were  written  by  Ovid  at  a  later  period  of  his  life  than 
the  original  collection'^. 

iii.  MecUcaminaformae:  an  extant  fragment  of  100  lines  on 

»  *  Habebat  ille  comptum  et  decens  et  amabile  ingenium.'— Senec. 

Controv.,  ii.  10.  8. 

3  See  W.  Zingerle,  Untersuchungen  zur  Echtheitsfrage  der  Heroiden 
Ovid's,  Innsbruck,  1878.  The  genuineness  of  the  Epistula  Sapphus  has 
been  vindicated  by  Professor  Comparetti  ;  and  has  been  maintained 
recently  by  Baehrens  in  the  Rivista  di  Filologia  e  d'  Instruzione 
Classica  for  1884. 


\ 


XXIV 


INTRODUCTION. 


WORKS  OF  OVID, 


XXV 


the  use  of  cosmetics.     It  was  written  apparently  before  the 
appearance  of  the  Ars  Amatoria.     (See  A.  A.  iii.  205  ff.) 

iv.  Artis  Amatoriae  Libri  III. — This,  the  most  profligate  of 
Ovid's  works,  contains  two  books  of  rules  for  men  as  to  how  to 
gain  the  affections  of  women,  and  one  book  for  women  as  to 
how  to  gain  those  of  men.     It  was  probably  published  752-1/ 

2-3. 
V.  Remedia  Amoris, — One  book  :  this  was  intended  as  a  kind 

of  recantation  of  his  Ars  Amatoria,  and  treats  of  the  means  of 

escaping  from  love.     It  was  written  in  754-5/1-2. 

2.  The  works  of  the  poet's  maturity  are  characterised  by 
greater  seriousness  of  subject-matter.    They  are  : — 

vi.  Metamorphoseon  Libri  XV,  A  collection,  rather  loosely 
strung  together,  in  heroic  hexameter  verse,  of  those  fables  of 
antiquity,  which  involved  a  transformation  of  shape,  from  the 
creation  of  the  world  out  of  chaos  to  the  transmutation  of  Julius 
Caesar  into  a  star.  The  poem  had  not  received  its  writer's  last 
polish  when  he  was  exiled  ;  and  in  his  disgust  he  burnt  it.  But 
copies  had  fortunately  been  preserved  by  some  friends,  one  of 
whom  published  it  for  him  shortly  after  his  banishment. 

vii.  Fastoruin  Libri  VI, — A  poem  in  elegiac  verse,  describing 
the  ceremonies  and  legends  connected  with  the  Roman  Calendar. 
The  work,  which  was  originally  intended  to  be  in  twelve  books 
breaks  off  at  book  VI.  ending  with  June.  Its  composition  was 
interrupted  by  the  writer's  banishment  in  762/9.  A  first  issue  of 
book  I,  dedicated  to  Augustus,  seems  to  have  appeared  (T.  ii. 
549  ff.)  ;  and  after  the  death  of  Augustus  767/14,  a  revised 
version  of  book  I,  and  books  II-VI.  were  published,  inscribed  to 
the  accomplished  young  prince  Germanicus  Caesar. 

3.  Poems  of  the  period  of  exile. 

viii.  TrisHum  Libri  V.—A  collection  of  elegies,  couched  in 
the  form  of  letters,  chiefly  consisting  of  lamentations  upon  his 
exile.  The  poems  appear  to  stand  mainly  in  the  order  in  which 
they  were  written,  excepting  the  first  and  last  elegies  of  each  book, 
which  were  written  last,  as  the  prologue  and  epilogue  of  the 
book.  (This  does  not  apply  to  Book  II,  which  is  a  continuous 
essay.)     Each  book,  as  completed,  seems  to  have  been  sent 


collectively  to  Rome'.  Of  these,  Book  I.  was  written  in  the 
course  of  the  journey,  but  finished  off  at  Tomi  and  despatched 
to  Rome  from  thence.  The  book  was  sent  to  Rome,  and  pub- 
iished  in  the  course  of  763/10,  under  the  editorship  of  some 
friend  unknown  to  us  \ 

Book  II.  A  long  vindication  of  himself  and  his  Ars  Amatona, 
addressed  to  Augustus,  was  written  in  the  same  year. 

Book  III.  followed  immediately,  and  was  published  in  the 

following  year.  . 

Book  IV.  must  have  been  written  between  the  sprmgs  of 

764/11  and  765/12.  g 

Book  V.  between  the  springs  of  765/12  and  766/13  • 
ix.  /^/j.— Published    not    before    762/9,  for    in    that   year, 
March   20th   (T.  iv.  10.  13-14),  was  the  poet's  fiftieth  birth- 
day ;  and  in  Ibis  i.  he  says  that  he  was  already  fifty  years  old 
when  he  wrote  it.    This  poem  is  an  invective  in  644  elegiac  Imes, 
written  in  imitation  of  a  poem  of  similar  name  by  the  Alexandrine 
Callimachus,  in  which  he  assailed  his  rival  Apollonius  Rhodius. 
It  is  directed  against  the  unknown  enemy,  called  by  the  poet 
Ibis-attacked  also  in  T.iii.  ii,  iv.  9,  v.  8,  P.  iv.  3-whom  Ovid 
accuses  of  having  procured  his  disfavour  with  the  Emperor  by 
introducing  the  Ars  Amatoria  to  his  notice  (T.  ii.  77)y  of  having 
openly  defamed  him  in  his  absence  (T.iii.  11.20;  Ibis  14),  of 
having  attempted  to  prevent  his  receiving  supplies  in  his  exile 
(Ibis  21),  and  of  having  tried  to  rob  him  of  his  property  (T.  i.  6. 
8  ;  Ibis  17),  a  design  which  was  frustrated  by  the  poet's  wife 

(T.i.6.  13;  Ibis  15).  ^  ^  ... 

T.  iv.  9  looks  as  if  it  were  an  announcement  of  the  near  publi- 
cation of  the  Ibis. 

Who  was  this  enemy  whose  name  Ovid  so  persistently  con- 

»  Schulz,  Q.  O.  pp.  1-7.  ,         ^  T  V      TT    • 

«  The  ingenious  hypothesis  that  this  friend  was  C.  lulius  Hygmus, 
the  celebrated  librarian  of  ihe  Palatine  Library,  and  author  of  the  four 
books  of  astronomy,  and  the  277  fables  which  have  come  down  to  us  in 
an  abridged  form  under  his  name,  and  that  T.  i.  7  ;  iii- M ;  iv.  7  ;  and 
V.  6,  are  addressed  to  him,  has  been  shown  by  Graeber,  ii.  pp.  13-14,  ^o 
rest  on  too  weak  a  foundation  for  us  to  accept  it  as  proved. 
'  In  these  dates  I  follow  Wartenberg. 


XXVI 


INTRODUCTION. 


FRIENDS  AND  PATRONS  OF  OVID,  xxvii 


ceals  has  been  a  subject  of  controversy  ;  and  Mr.  Ellis  does  not 
venture  to  decide.  After  proving  that  he  could  not  have  been 
Corvinus,  or  M.  Manilius  (the  author  of  the  Astronomica),  or 
C.  lulius  Hyginus,  though  the  last  supposition  has  much  to 
recommend  it,  he  shows  that  he  must  have  been  some  pro- 
fessional speaker  or  delator,  and  suggests  as  alternatives  the 
T.  Labienus  described  by  Seneca,  Controv.  lo  praef.  4,  or  the 
famous  astrologer  Thrasyllus,  the  intimate  of  Tiberius. 

X.  Ex  Ponto  Epistularum  Libri  IV,— A  collection  of  letters 
to  different  persons  at  Rome,  which,  like  the  Tristia,  consist  of 
lamentations  over  his  miseries  and  supplications  to  those 
addressed  to  use  every  means  to  procure  his  recall.  The 
poems  of  the  first  three  books  appear  to  have  been  written  at 
different  times,  some  perhaps  as  early  as  the  beginning  of  his 
exile  (Wartenberg,  p.  88)  ;  and  the  whole  three  books  were, 
unlike  the  Tristia,  collected  '  sine  ordine '  (P.  iii.  9.  53),  and 
sent  to  Rome  to  Brutus,  to  be  published  by  him  about  the 
beginning  of  766/13.  (See  P.  iii.  9.  51-54.)  Book  IV,  which 
contains  930  lines,  about  200  above  the  usual  average  of 
Ovid's  books,  and  which,  unlike  the  other  books,  has  no  dedicatory 
exordium,  consists  probably  of  scattered  poems  left  by  Ovid 
when  he  was  surprised  by  death,  and  which  were  intended  by 
him  to  form  part  of  two  books  ;  so  that  the  number  of  books  of 
the  Pontic  Epistles  might  correspond  with  those  of  the  Tristia. 
These  poems  were  collected  and  published  by  some  friend  after 
his  death  ^ 

xi.  Halieuticon  Liber.— A  didactic  fragment  of  132  lines  on 
the  natural  history  of  the  fishes  of  the  Black  Sea,  begun  by  the 
poet  shortly  before  his  death  ^ 

Besides  these  extant  works  there  were  others  which  have 
perished  :    a  tragedy,  Medea  j  an  elegy  on  the  death  of  M. 

*  See  Schulz,  pp.  27  ff.  Others  suppose  that  Book  IV  is  a  post- 
humous collection  made  by  some  friend  of  all  the  unpublished  letters 
of  the  poet,  which  had  been  preserved  by  those  who  had  received  them 
(Wartenberg,  p.  113). 

*  'Idvolumen  supremis  suis  temporibus  incohavit.'-Plin.  H  N  32 
152. 


« 


Valerius  Messalla  (P.  i.  7-  27  ff.) ;  an  epithalamium  on  the 
marriage  of  Paullus  Fabius  Maximus  (P.  i.  2.  133)  ;  a  poem  on 
the  Pannonian  triumph  of  Tiberius  (P.  iii.  4  ;  cp.  ii.  5-  27)  ;  one 
in  the  Getic  language,  in  praise  of  the  deified  Augustus,  his 
successor  Tiberius,  and  the  Imperial  House  generally  (P.  iv.  13. 
19  ff.)  ;  another  in  honour  of  Augustus  (P.  iv.  6.  17  ff.)  ;  and  a 
book  of  epigrams  against  the  bad  poets  of  the  day  (Quintil.  vi. 

3-  96). 


III. 

The  Friends  and  Patrons  of  Ovid  addressed  in 
THE  Tristia  and  Pontic  Epistles. 

As  the  poet  himself  remarks,  the  subject-matter  of  the  Tristia 
and  Epistulae  ex  Ponto  is  identical^ ;  both  are  concerned  mainly 
with  laments  over  the  miseries  of  his  exile,  and  supplications  to 
his  friends  at  home  to  do  all  in  their  power  to  procure  his  recall, 
or  at  any  rate  that  a  less  remote  and  dreary  place  of  exile  may 
be  granted  to  him.  The  sole  difference  is  that,  in  the  Tristia 
the  names  of  the  persons  addressed  are  suppressed,  while  in  the 
Pontic  Epistles  they  are  openly  given^  As  the  first  book  of  the 
Pontic  Epistles  followed  so  closely  on  the  last  of  the  Tristia— 
both  were  finished  in  the  course  of  765/12— it  is  natural  to 
enquire  (i)  why  the  names  of  the  friends,  so  long  suppressed, 

^  P.  iii.  9.  I : 

*quod  sit  in  his  eadem  sententia,  Brute,  libellis, 
carmina  nescio  quern  carpere  nostra  refers : 
nil  nisi  me  terra  fruar  ut  propiore  rogare, 
et  quam  sira  denso  cinctus  ab  hoste,  loqui.* 

»  P.  i.  I.  15  ff.: 

'invenies,  quamvis  non  est  miserabilis  index, 
non  minus  hoc  illo  triste,  quod  ante  dedi : 
rebus  idem,  titulo  differt;  et  epistula  cui  sit 
non  occultato  nomine  missa  docet.' 


XXMll 


INTRODUCTION. 


FRIENDS  AND  PATRONS  OF  OVID, 


XXIX 


were  so  suddenly  disclosed ;  and  (2)  whether  it  is  possible  to 
identify  any  of  the  persons  addressed  in  the  Tristia. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  answer  the  first  of  these  questions.  It 
would  not  have  been  safe  for  Ovid,  at  the  beginning  of  his  exile, 
to  address  by  name  his  friends  at  Rome.  Such  an  open  con- 
fession of  connexion  with  the  disgraced  poet  would  have  been 
likely  to  draw  down  upon  them  the  anger  of  the  Emperor.  That 
this  was  the  fear  of  the  persons  concerned  appears  from  many 
passages  in  the  Tristia  ^-  and  even  later  there  was  still  one 
friend  who  declined  to  allow  his  name  to  appear,  to  whom 
P.  iii.  6  is  written.  But  the  year  765/12  was  the  fourth  of 
the  poet's  exile,  and  by  this  time  the  anger  of  Augustus  had 
begun  to  abate,  and  he  was  contemplating  the  pardon  of  the 
offender,  when  he  was  overtaken  by  death  \  Thus  we  may  sup- 
pose that  on  the  completion  of  the  Tristia  the  poet  saw  that  he 
need  no  longer  fear  to  prejudice  his  friends  by  revealing  their 
names ;  and  accordingly  laid  aside  all  disguise  in  his  new  work, 
the  Pontic  Epistles. 

That  the  persons  addressed  in  the  two  collections  of  letters 
are  substantially  the  same  there  can  be  little  doubt,  both  from 
close  internal  resemblances,  and  from  the  inherent  probability 
that  the  same  nearer  circle  of  his  friends  and  patrons  would 
naturally  be  appealed  to  by  the  poet  in  each  case.  Consequently 
great  ingenuity  has  been  expended  upon  identifying  these  per- 
sons ;  and  though  much  of  the  results  of  these  attempts  can  only 
be  regarded  as  *  bold  voyages  into  the  sea  of  conjecture,'  much 
has  yet  been  established  with  tolerable  certainty. 

The  collection  of  the  Tristia  divides  itself  naturally  into  two 
classes  of  letters,  those  to  the  poet's  nearer  friends  and  patrons, 
and  those  of  which  his  wife,  the  Emperor,  the  friendly  reader,  or 
his  inveterate  personal  enemy,  is  the  subject.  Of  the  fifty  letters 
of  the  Tristia  seventeen  belong  to  the  former  class,  thirty-two  to 
the  latter.    Midway  between  the  two  stands  the  solitary  poem, 

»  See  i.  5.  7;  iii.  4.  64 ;  iv.  4.  7  ;  v.  9.  i  ff. 
*  P.  iv.  6.  15  : 

*coeperat  Augustus  deceptae  ignoscere  culpae: 
spem  nostram  terras  deseruitque  simul.' 


iii.  7,  addressed,  unlike  the  rest,  by  name,  to  the  young  poetess 
Perilla,  over  whose  studies  Ovid  claims  to  exercise  a  fatherly 
supervision  ^. 

Class  I.  Poems  not  addressed  to  friends  and  patrons. 
By  far  the  larger  number  of  the  elegies  which  fall  under 
this  head  are  inscribed  to  the  friendly  reader;  these  are  i. 
2,  i.  3,  i.  4,  i.  10,  i.  II  ;  iii.  I,  iii.  2,  iii.  9,  iii.  10,  iii.  12,  iii.  13 ; 
iv.  I,  iv.  2,  iv.  6,  iv.  8,  iv.  10 ;  v.  I,  v.  10.  The  prologue  of  Book  i, 
i.  I,  is  addressed  to  the  book  itself.  Three  poems  are  to  the 
Emperor,  iii.  8,  v.  2,  45-78  ^  and  Book  ii.  This  last  is  one  con- 
tinuous essay  in  justification  of  the  Ars  Amatoria,  in  which  Ovid 
shows  with  much  cleverness,  that  if  he  had  erred  in  treating  de- 
licate subjects,  he  had  only  followed  the  example  of  many  of  his 
predecessors,  writers  of  established  reputation  both  of  Greece 
and  Rome.  To  his  wife  there  are  six  letters ;  i.  6 ;  iii.  3  ;  iv.  3 ; 
V.  2,  1-44 ;  V.  II,  and  V.  14  ;  and  besides  these  v.  5  celebrates  her 
birthday.  One  letter,  v.  3,  appeals  in  general  terms  to  his  poet 
friends.  Lastly,  three  poems,  iii.  1 1,  iv.  9,  v.  8,  are  directed 
against  his  relentless  enemy,  the  subject  of  the  Ibis. 

Class  II.  Letters  addressed  expressly  to  friends  and 
patrons.  A  careful  study  of  the  Tristia  and  Pontic  Epistles 
shows  that  a  sharp  division  must  be  drawn  between  those  ac- 
quaintances of  the  poet  who  were  his  superiors  in  station,  and 
those  who  were  his  equals,  between  his  patrons  and  his  friends, 
between  his  fautores  and  his  sodales.  And  it  is  the  want  of  dis- 
criminating with  sufficient  exactness  between  these  two  classes 
that  has  led  to  many  random  and  false  identifications.  There  is 
a  marked  difference  in  tone  between  the  language  with  which 
Ovid  approaches  his  patrons,  who  had  held  the  highest  offices 
and  belonged  to  the  highest  nobility  of  Rome,  whose  *  majestic 
names  ^  \fill  him  with  awe,  from  that  with  which  he  speaks  to  his 

^  Perilla  was  not,  as  some  have  supposed  (see  above,  p.  xvii),  the 
poet's  daughter,  for  she  is  described  as  young  and  living  still  under  her 
mother's  roof,  11.  3  and  33  ff. ;  whereas  at  the  time  of  his  exile,  Ovid's 
daughter  was  already  married  to  her  second  husband. 

2  See  Graeber,  11.  7. 

'  ♦  nomina  magna,'  T.  iii.  4.  4. 


XXX 


INTRODUCTION. 


friends,  whether  his  poet  comrades,  or  the  associates  of  his  plea- 
sures in  happier  days.  He  writes  to  patrons  in  a  vein  of  humble 
supplication,  praying  them  to  use  their  influence  with  the  Em- 
peror to  procure  the  commutation  of  his  sentence;  but  to 
equals  in  the  language  of  ordinary  affectionate  familiarity.  By 
the  help  of  the  knowledge  acquired  from  the  Pontic  Epistles 
we  can  discriminate  clearly  what  individuals  constitute  these 
two  categories. 

(i)  The  patrons— social  superiors  of  Ovid.  Of  these  there 
are  seven  in  all,  amongst  whom  as  foremost  and  oldest  must  be 
reckoned  (i)  M.  Valerius  Messalla  Corvinus;  though  none 
of  the  Tristia  and  Pontic  Epistles  is  addressed  to  him.  Messalla, 
a  contemporary  of  Horace  and  the  younger  Cicero,  was  born 
about  689/65.  In  the  civil  wars  he  joined  Brutus  and 
Cassius,  and  was  legatus  to  Cassius  at  the  battle  of  Philippi, 
after  which  he  followed  the  fortunes  of  Antony,  until,  disgusted 
with  his  conduct  in  Egypt,  he  joined  Octavian,  by  whom  he  was 
made  consul  723/31,  and  commanded  the  centre  of  the  fleet  at 
the  battle  of  Actium.  Three  years  after  he  quelled  a  rebellion  in 
Aquitania ;  and  was  then  sent  to  the  east  to  establish  peace  in 
Cilicia,  Syria,  and  Egypt.  In  726/28  he  returned  ;  and  celebrated 
a  triumph  over  the  Aquitani,  Sept.  25,  727/27  ^  He  was  the 
first '  praefectus  urbis  ^  ;*  but  held  that  office  for  a  few  days  only. 
In  752/2  he  proposed  in  the  senate  that  Augustus  should  have 
the  title  of  *  pater  patriae.'  After  ceasing  to  be  *  praefectus  urbis  * 
he  abandoned  politics,  and  devoted  himself  to  the  bar,  where  he 
became  the  principal  advocate  of  his  day,  and  received  the  ap- 
pellation of  the  Orator.  Like  Maecenas,  he  was  a  liberal  patron 
of  learning ;  and  his  house  was  open  to  the  poets  Tibullus  and 
Ovid  amongst  many  others.  Ovid  speaks  of  him  with  the 
greatest  veneration  '  as  *  primo  mihi  cultus  ab  aevo  * ; '  and  testi- 
fies to  the  encouragement  that  Messalla  gave  him  in  the  pursuit 

*  Graeber,  i.  xvi ;  Dissen's  Tibullus,  pp.  xvii-xx. 

*  Tac.  A.  vi.  II. 

'  Writing  to  the  son  of  Messalla,  he  describes  himself  as  *  ille  domns 
vestrae  prim  is  venerator  ab  annis.*    P.  ii.  2.  i. 

*  P.  ii.  2.  99. 


FRIENDS  AND  PATRONS  OF  OVID,  xxxi 

of  poetry  \  Messalla  died  at  the  advanced  age  of  seventy-two, 
a  few  months  before  the  poet's  banishment,  leaving  two  sons, 
M.  Valerius  Corvinus  Messalla  or  Messallinus,  and  M.Aurelius 

Cotta  Messallinus. 

(2)  The  elder  of  these,  M.  Valerius  Corvinus  Messalla  or 
Messallinus,  was  one  of  the  most  powerful  of  the  adherents  of 
Tiberius.    Bom  at  some  time  before  7I9/35j  and  after  7i5/39i  he 
was  consul  in  751/3,  and  Megatus  August!  pro  praetore'  of  Dal- 
matia  and  Pannonia  in  759/6.     In  the  summer  of  that  year  he 
led  his  forces  into  Germany  to  assist  Tiberius,  and  shortly  after- 
wards, on  the  outbreak  of  the  insurrection  in  Dalmatia  and 
Pannonia  of  the  two  Batos,  served  with  great  distinction  and 
bravery  in  that  war  ^ ;  and  in  recognition  was  granted  the '  trium- 
phalia  omamenta'  at  the  triumph  celebrated  by  Tiberius  =*.    As 
a  politician  his  career  was  less  honourable ;   his  servility  and 
base  adulation  of  Tiberius  are  gravely  censured  by  Tacitus  *.    In 
767/14,  at  the  first  meeting  of  the  senate  under  Tiberius,  he 
moved  that  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the  Emperor  should  in 
future  be  taken  every  year,  instead  of  every  ten  years.    In  773/20 
he  proposed,  on  the  condemnation  of  Piso,  the  erection  of  a  com- 
memorative golden  statue,  and  that  the  imperial  family  should 
receive  the  congratulations  of  the  state :  in  774/21  he  opposed 
the  proposal  of  Caecina  Severus  that  no  governor  of  a  senatorial 
province  should  be  accompanied  by  his  wife.    A  summary  of  his 
speech  on  that  occasion  is  given  by  Tacitus,  who,  like  Ovid,  praises 
him  as  inheriting  the  eloquence  of  his  father  Messalla  ^   Tibullus 
(ii.  5)  commemorates  the  occasion  of  his  election  into  the  college 
of  *  quindecimviri  sacris  faciundis,'  who  had  charge  of  the  Sibyl- 

*  P.  i.  7.  28,  *hortator  studii  causaque  faxque  mei.'      Cp.  P.  ii.  3* 
75  (speaking  of  Messalla  to  his  son  Cotta  Maximus) : 

•me  tuus  ille  pater,  Latiae  facundia  linguae, 
quae  non  inferior  nobilitate  fuit, 
primus  ut  auderem  committere  carmina  famae 
impulit.    ingenii  dux  fuit  ille  mei.' 
»  Dio,  Iv.  30 ;  Vellei.  ii.  112. 

*  Suet.  Tib.  20.    Ovid  alludes  to  this  in  P.  u.  a.  85  fit. 

*  A.  i.  8.  5 ;  iii.  18.  3. 

»  Tac.  A.  iii.  34.  i ;  Ovid,  P.  ii.  a.  51  ff-  J  cp.  T.  iv.  4.  $• 


xxxii 


INTRODUCTION, 


line  books.  The  estimate  of  his  character  in  Velleius  is  more 
favourable  than  that  of  Tacitus  :  *  animo  etiam  quam  gente 
nobilior,  dignissimus  qui  et  patrem  Corvinum  habuisset  et 
cognomen  suum  Cottae  fratri  relinqueret  \'  His  son,  M.  Valerius 
Messallinus,  was  consul  in  773/20. 

Two  of  the  Pontic  Epistles  are  addressed  to  Messallinus,  i.  7, 
and  ii.  2,  in  both  of  which  Ovid  speaks  with  distant  respect  to 
the  patron^,  of  whom  he  had  seen  little  personally^,  and  who  he 
fears  may  disown  any  connection  with  one  that  had  offended  the 
Imperial  House*,  of  which  he  is  a  devoted  adherent ^  The 
patronage  of  the  father  Messalla  and  friendship  of  the  brother 
Cotta  embolden  the  poet  to  ask  for  help  from  one  whom  he 
would  not  otherwise  have  ventured  to  address  *. 

Of  the  Tristia,  iv.  4  is  obviously  to  Messallinus''^.  There  is 
the  same  timid  tone  of  distant  supplication  **,  towards  one  who  is 
far  above  the  poet  in  rank  ^,  and  with  whom  he  is  obviously  not 
on  very  familiar  terms,  otherwise  he  would  not  have  needed  to 
apologise  for  addressing  him  by  the  reminder  that  they  had  had 
personal  intercourse  ^'^j  and  that  the  father  had  regarded  him 
with  favour  ^^. 

(3)  With  the  younger  son  of  Messalla  Ovid  was  on  far  more 
intimate  terms.     Originally  named  M.  Valerius  Maximus,  he 

*  Vellei.  ii.  112. 

*  P.  ii.  2.1,'  domus  vestrae  primis  venerator  ab  annis :  *  cp.  P.  i.  7. 1 5  ff. 
'  P.  i.  7.  55,  '  culta  quidem,  fateor,  citra  quam  debuit,  ilia  (i.  e.  tua 

ianua)  est.' 

*  P.  i.  7.17  ;  ii.  2.  5.        5  P.  ii.  2.  19-22  ;  43-44.        *  P.  1.  7.  27  ff. 
"'  Koch,  p.  14  ;  Graeber,  i.  xx.    That  the  poem  is  to  his  brother  Cotta 

has  been  maintained  by  Borghesi,  Qiuvr.  Num.  i.  409,  and  Lorentz,  p.  10. 

*  1.  8,  '  ignoscas  laudibus  ipse  tuis  ; '  cp.  1.  2 1,  49  ff. 

*  1.  I :  •  O  qui  nominibus  cum  sis  generosus  avorum, 

exsuperas  morum  nobilitate  genus.' 
"  1.  23:  'nee  nova,  quod  tecum  loquor,  est  iniuria  nostra, 

incolumis  cum  quo  saepe  locutus  eram.' 
"  1.  27  ff.  That  Messallinus  is  intended  is  made  certain  by  the  asser- 
tion (I.  37)  that  if  he  knew  the  whole  train  of  events  he  would  acquit 
the  poet  of  wilful  wrong-doing ;  for  this  remark  would  be  pointless  if 
addressed  to  Cotta,  who  probably  knew  all,  as  Ovid  was  with  him  at  the 
time  of  his  sentence. 


FRIENDS  AND  PATRONS  OF  OVID.         xxxiii 


was  adopted  by  his  mother's  brother  Aurelius  Cotta,  who  was 
childless,  and  thus  became  M.  Aurelius  Cotta  Maximus ;  and 
finally,  on  the  death  of  his  elder  brother,  took  the  *  agnomen' 
Messallinus,  and  became  M.  Aurelius  Cotta  Messallinus; 
whence  Tacitus  always  speaks  of  him  as  Cotta  Messallinus  ^ 
He  was  younger  than  Ovid  ^,  who  began  to  frequent  the  house  of 
his  father  Messalla  when  about  twenty  years  of  age  ^  before  the 
birth  of  Cotta  *,  who  would  accordingly  seem  to  have  been  bom 
about  731/23.  He  was  consul  773/20,  together  with  his  nephew, 
M.  Valerius  Messallinus*.    Like  his  elder  brother  he  was  a 

*  These  changes  of  name  give  rise  to  some  difficulty  in  distinguishing 
whether  certain  of  the  Pontic  Epistles  are  to  Cotta  Messallinus  or 
Fabius  Maximus,  for  the  name  Maximus  is  used  in  addressing  both 
persons.  It  has,  however,  been  pretty  well  established  that  P.  i.  2  and 
iii.  3  are  to  Fabius  Maximus,  while  P.  i.  5,  i.  9,  ii.  3,  ii.  8,  iii.  2,  iii.  5, 
are  to  Cotta.  About  iii.  8,  Graeber,  i.  p.  xi,  is  in  doubt,  but  WoelfFel 
and  Lorentz  seem  to  have  shown  satisfactorily  that  it  is  to  Fabius,  by 
noting  that  the  words  *  purpura  saepe  tuos  fulgens  praetexit  amictus ' 
(1.  7)  are  better  suited  to  Fabius  Maximus,  who  had  held  many  offices, 
than  to  Cotta,  who  at  that  time  had  not  yet  been  consul.  Schulz,  p.  28, 
conjectures  that  as  none  of  P.  iv.  are  addressed  to  Cotta,  apparently  the 
most  faithful  of  Ovid's  powerful  friends,  there  were  letters  written 
to  him,  which  have  been  lost.  Considering  that  P.  iv.  consists  of 
scattered  poems  collected  and  published  after  Ovid's  death,  this  sugges- 
tion is  highly  plausible. 

*  Cp.  P.  ii.  3.  55,  '  iuvenis  rarissime ; '  iii.  5.  7,  '  iuvenis  patrii  non 
degener  oris ; '  ibid.  37,  '  iuvenis  studiorum  plene  meonim.' 

»  T.  iv.  10.  57  ff. ;  P.  ii.  3.  75  ff-  *  P-  "•  3-  71- 

*  The  following  is  the  genealogy  of  the  house  of  Messalla : 

M.  Valerius  Messalla  Corvinus, 
COS.  7^3/31 


M.  Aurelius  Cotta  Maximus 
Messallinus. 
cos.  773/20. 

M.  Aurelius  Cotta 
(Tac.  A.  xiii.  34). 


M.  Valerius  Corvinus  Messallinus, 

cos.  75^/3 

I 
M.  Valerius  Messallinus, 

COS.  773/20  (Tac.  A.  iii.  2). 

M.  Valerius  Messalla  Corvinus, 
cos.  811/58  (Tac.  A.  xiii.  34). 


XXXIV 


INTRODUCTION, 


FRIENDS  AND  PATRONS  OF  OVID. 


XXXV 


ill 


strong  adherent  of  Tiberius,  with  whom  he  was  very  intimate ', 
and  whose  large-minded  policy  of  securing  just  administration 
for  the  provinces  and  curbing  the  exactions  of  the  senatorial 
aristocracy  he  abetted  by  proposing  in  777/24  that  provincial 
governors  should  be  answerable  for  the  misdeeds  of  their  wives 
even  if  themselves  innocent  2.  In  769/16,  on  the  forced  suicide 
of  Libo  Drusus,  Cotta  had  moved  that  his  image  should  not  be 
carried  in  the  family  funeral  processions  ;  and  in  782/29  he  was 
ready  prepared  with  a  stringent  proposal  directed  against  Agrip- 
pina  and  Nero^  At  the  time  of  Ovid's  banishment  he  held 
some  official  position  in  the  island  of  Ilva  (Elba) ;  and  the  poet 
formed  one  of  his  suite  {cohors). 

The  estimates  formed  of  his  character  are  conflicting.  Tacitus, 
who  is  prejudiced  against  all  the  partizans  of  Tiberius,  says  that 
he  was  universally  hated  as  a  supporter  of  every  cruel  measure, 
that  his  character  did  not  correspond  to  his  noble  ancestry,  and 
that  he  was  reduced  to  penury  by  his  luxury,  and  was  rendered 
infamous  by  his  enormities*.  Persius  speaks  of  him  as 
*  Messalla's  blear-eyed  son ; '  and  the  scholiast,  explaining  the 
expression  as  alluding  to  a  weakness  in  the  eyelids,  which 
attacked  him  in  old  age,  adds  that  he  was  addicted  to  many 
vices  ^ 

On  the  other  hand,  Ovid,  to  whom  he  was  a  most  kind  and 
liberal  patron,  speaks  of  him  alone  of  his  social  superiors  with  a 
warmth  of  personal  affection  that  differs  but  little  from   that 

'  Tac.  A.  vi.  5  relates  that  when  Cotta  was  charged  with  '  maiestas,' 
Tiberius  '  repetito  inter  se  atque  Cottam  amicitiae  principio  crebrisque 
eius  officiis  commemoratis,  ne  verba  prave  detorta  neu  convivalium 
fabularum  simplicitas  in  crimen  duceretur  postulavit.* 

^  Tac.  A.  iv.  20. 

'  Tac.  A.  ii.  32  ;  v.  3. 

*  Tac.  A.  vi.  5  ;  iv.  20  ;  vi.  7. 

*  Pers.  ii.  72  and  schol.  The  charge  that  he  was  a  gourmand  rests  on 
the  insufficient  evidence  of  PHny,  H.  N.  x.  22.  57,  'sed  quod  constat, 
Messallinus  Cotta,  Messallae  oratoris  filius,  palmas  pedum  ex  his  torrere 
atque  patinis  cum  gallaceorum  cristis  condire  repperit ;  tribuetur  enim  a 
me  culinis  cuiusque  palma  cum  fide.'  Pliny  only  says  that  Cotta 
invented  this  dish. 


which  he  feels  towards  the  most  intimate  of  his  equals.  Cotta 
was  one  of  the  few  who  were  constant  to  him  in  his  trouble  ^  ;  he 
was  a  gentle  and  high-souled  man  ^,  the  worthy  son  of  a  worthy 
father^.  His  munificence  to  literary  men  is  attested  by  Juvenal*, 
and  in  an  inscription  recently  discovered  on  the  Appian  Way  his 
freedman  Zosimus  describes  in  elegiac  verse,  perhaps  with  some 
exaggeration,  the  liberality  of  Cotta,  who  had  raised  him  to  the 
equestrian  census  ^ 

We  may  suppose  that  the  poverty  of  his  declining  years 
was,  to  a  large  extent  at  any  rate,  brought  about  by  his  lavish 
munificence,  rather  than  by  the  sinister  cause  assigned  by 
Tacitus. 

Cotta,  who  is  mentioned  by  Ovid  among  the  contemporary 
poets,  composed  probably,  besides  fugitive  pieces,  a  poem  on  the 
legend  of  Pylades  and  Orestes  ^ 

*  P.ii.  3.  29;  iii.  2.  5. 
^  P.  iii.  2. 103  : 

*adde  quod  est  animus  semper  tibi  mitis,  et  altae 
indicium  mores  nobilitatis  habent,' 

'  P.  iii.  5.  7- 

*  luv.  v.  107 :  •  quae  Piso  bonus  quae  Cotta  solebat  Largiri.' 

vii.  95 : 

*  quis  tibi  Maecenas,  quis  nunc  erit  aut  Proculeius, 
aut  Fabius,  quis  Cotta  iterum,  quis  Lentulus  alter?* 
^  Graeber,  I.  xxii  (see  Henzen.  Ann.  dell'  Inst.  1865,  pp.  5-17): 
*  M.  Aurelius  Cottae  Maximi  1.  Zosimus  accensus  patroni. 
libertinus  eram,  fateor,  sed  facta  legetur 

patrono  Cotta  nobilis  umbra  meo, 
qui  mihi  saepe  libens  census  donavit  equestris, 

qui  iussit  natos  tollere,  quos  aleret, 
quique  suas  commisit  of)es  mihi  semper  et  idem 

dotavit  natas,  ut  pater,  ipse  meas, 
Cottanumque  meum  produxit  honore  tribuni 

quem  fortis  castris  Caesaris  emeruit. 
quid  non  Cotta  dedit,  qui  nunc  et  carmina  tristis 
haec  dedit  in  tumulo  conspicienda  meo?* 
Aurelia.  Satumina.  Zosimi.* 

*  P.  iv.  16.  41  ff . ;  iii.  5.  39;  Merkel,  prolus.  ad  Ibin,  p.  376; 
Hennig,  p.  31.  . 

C  2 


XXXVl 


INTR  OD  UC  TION, 


Of  the  TrisHa,  iv.  5  and  v.  9  are  to  Cotta.  In  the  former  Ovid 
addresses  the  friend  who  is  chief  among  his  friends,  who  has  not 
feared  to  stand  by  him  in  his  misfortune,  and  who  loves  him  with 
a  love  like  that  which  Castor  bore  to  Pollux  ;  in  the  latter  he 
speaks  in  affectionate  language  to  his  gentle-natured  patron  ^ 

(4)  The  person  on  whose  influence  with  the  Emperor  the  poet 
mainly  relied  to  ensure  his  recall  was  PaiUlus  Fabius  Maximus, 
to  whom  are  addressed  P.  i.  2,  iii.  3,  and  probably  iii.  8  2.  He 
was  the  son  of  Quintus  Fabius  Maximus,  who  as  a  young  man 
(m  698/56)  was  praised  by  Cicero  as  the  worthy  scion  of  a  noble 
Ime  3,  and  who  distinguished  himself  in  the  war  against  Pompey 
in  Spain,  709/45,  and  as  a  reward  was  made  by  Caesar  Consul 
Suffectus,  and  allowsda  triumph  in  that  year. 

It  is  conjectured  that  Fabius,  the  son,  was  bom  about  709/45. 
He  is  celebrated  when  a  young  man  by  Horace,  as— 

•nobilis  et  decens 
et  pro  sollicitis  non  tacitns  reis 
et  centum  puer  artium*.' 

Early  in  life,  apparently  between  the  ages  of  eighteen  and 

*  1.  7 :        *  te  praesens  mitem  nosset,  te  serior  aetas.* 
See  Graeber,  i.  p.  xxi. 

J»  None  of  the  Tristia  can  be  shown  to  be  to  him  (Graeber,  i.  p.  xi) 
though  111    6  IS  assigned  to  him  by  Lorentz,  and  v.  2  by  Koch  and 
.  Lorentz  (Koch,  p.  8,  Lorentz,  pp.  28-30).    Of  these  v.  2. 1-44  is  to  the 
poet  s  wife,  as  is  shown  by  the  words,  1.  39  : 

*me  miseruml  quid  agam,  si  proxima  quaeque  relinquunt? 
subtrahis  effracto  tu  quoque  colla  iugo?* 
and  the  opening  of  the  letter: 

•  ecquid,  ubi  e  Ponto  nova  venit  epistula,  palles. 
et  tibi  sollicita  solvitur  ilia  manu?' 
both  which  passages  sound  far  more  natural  when  addressed  to  the 
fnghtened  wife  than  to  anyone  else.    v.  2.  45  to  the  end,  is  a  distinct 
poem  addressed  to  Augustus,  the  'arbiter  imperii,*  1.  47.    See  Graeber  i 
p.  XI.  and  11.  p.  7  ;  ill.  6.  in  which  he  speaks  to  a  bosom-friend  from  whom 
he  had  no  secrets  (11.  9  and  11),  must  be  referred  to  a  sodalis  of  equal 
station  (Celsus),  not  to  the  powerful  Fabius.— (Graeber  ii  a\ 

*  Cic.  in  Vatin.  xi.  28.  '      ^'^ 

*  Hor.  c.  iv.  1 .  1 3.  This  ode  was  composed  about  730/1 5,  when  Fabius 
was  about  thirty  years  old,  when  he  might  still  be  playfully  spoken  of 


FRIENDS  AND  PATRONS  OF  OVID.         XXX vii 

twenty-one,  he  held  some  office,  otherwise  unknown  to  us,  with 
the  title  of  Megatus  imperatoris  Caesaris'  under  Octavian  in 
Hispania  Tarraconensis  \     He  was  praetor  probably  739/1 5,  and 
then  proceeded  as  proconsul  to  the  praetorian  province  of  Cyprus, 
as  is  shown  by  an  inscription  set  up  by  the  inhabitants  of  Paphos 
to  his  wife  Marcia  ^     Two  inscriptions  in  his  honour  have  been 
found  at  Athens  ^.     He  was  consul  in  743/11,  and  subsequently, 
as  proconsul  of  Asia  (749/5-7  5o/4),  established  the  observance  of 
the  birthday  of  Augustus  throughout  the  cities  of  Asia  Minor ; 
a  decree,  conferring  a  crown  upon  him  on  this  account,  has  been 
discovered  at  Eumenia  in  Phrygia  *.     The  rest  of  his  life  was 
passed  at  Rome  in  the  duties  of  a  senator  and  the  practice  of 
the  bar.    Tacitus  relates  that  shortly  before  his  death  Augustus, 
accompanied  by  Fabius  Maximus,  paid  a  secret  visit  to  his 
grandson,  Agrippa  Postumus,  at  Planasia  (now  Pianosa),  whither 
he  had  been  banished  ;  that  both  Augustus  and  Agrippa  were 
deeply  affected  by  the  meeting,  which  gave  rise  to  hopes  that 
the  sentence  would  be  revoked  ;   that  this  was   divulged  by 
Maximus  to  his  wife  Marcia,  and  by  her  to  Livia ;  and  that 
shortly  afterwards  Maximus  died,  as  some  suspected,  by  forced 
suicide  ^     Whatever  the  historical  truth  of  this  story,  it  esta- 
blishes two  points  :  firstly,  the  date  of  the  death  of  Fabius,  which 
must  have  been   shortly  before  that  of  Augustus  (who  died 
August  19),  probably  at  some  time  in  May  or  June  in  767/14  • ; 

as  puer  by  the  poet  who  was  twenty  years  his  senior  (cp.  Cic.  ad  Fam, 
X.  7  and  X.  28).  He  could  hardly  before  the  age  of  thirty  have  been 
*  pro  sollicitis  non  tacitus  reis.' 

>  C.  I.  L.  ii.  2581.  *  [Imp.]  Caesari  [Paullus  Fabius]  Maximus 
legat.  Caesaris.* 

^  C.  I.  G.  2629.  8  C.  L  A.  i.  587  and  588. 

♦  C.  I.  G.  3902  b.  Three  coins  bearing  his  head  as  proconsul  of  Asia 
have  been  discovered,  which  show  how  highly  he  was  esteemed  by 
Augustus ;  since  the  power  of  impressing  their  heads  upon  coins  was 
granted,  as  far  as  we  know,  to  only  five  provincial  governors  at  this 
time  ;  Graeber,  i.  p.  xiii.  »  Tac.  A.  i.  5. 

«  Fabius  is  last  mentioned  in  the  'Acta  fratrum  Arvalium*  (anno  14) 
as  having  been  present  at  a  meeting  *  pridie  Id.  Maias  '  of  that  year ; 
Lorentz,  p.  26. 


II 


!i 


XXXVUl 


INTRODUCTION, 


and  secondly,  his  familiarity  with  Augustus,  which  is  attested 
also  by  the  rebuke  of  the  emperor  to  Cn.  Cornelius  Cinna,  when 
he  was  discovered  to  be  plotting  a  revolution,  '  Am  I  the  only 
obstacle  to  your  hopes?  Will  Paullus  and  Fabius  Maximus 
and  the  Cossi  and  Servilius  tolerate  you  ^  ?  *  and  by  a  jest  of 
Fabius  recorded  at  the  expense  of  the  emperor's  parsimony". 
This  intimacy  with  the  emperor  was  due,  no  doubt,  partly  to  his 
connexion  through  his  wife  with  the  imperial  family.  Marcia 
was  a  cousin  of  Augustus,  for  she  was  daughter  of  the  younger 
Atia,  who  was  sister  of  the  elder  Atia,  Augustus'  mother  ^. 

The  language  of  Ovid  towards  Fabius  Maximus  is  that  of 
respectful  reverence.  He  relies  on  his  own  connexion  with 
Fabius  through  his  third  wife,  who  belonged  to  the  getis  Fabia  \ 
to  procure  the  intercession  on  his  behalf  '  of  that  sweet  tongue 
that  is  ever  ready  to  defend  the  trembling  culprit^'  He  reminds 
Fabius  that  he  had  once  formed  one  of  his  attendant  throng, 
that  he  had  even  been  admitted  to  his  table,  and  had  composed 

»  Sen.  de  Clem.  i.  9,  §  8,  '  Cedo,  si  spes  tuas  solus  impedio : 
Paullusne  te  et  [qy.  omit  et\  Fabius  Maximus  et  Cossi  etServili 
ferent  ? 

=*  Quintil.  vi.  3.  52,  'Fabius  Maximus,  incusans  Augusti  congiariorum, 
quae  amicis  dabantur,  exiguitatem,  heminaria  esse  dixit.' 

'  See  F.  vi.  801  ff. ;  P.  i.  2.  139  ff. ;  Lorentz,  p.  24.  The  following' 
pedigree  may  be  useful :  ** 

M.  Alius  Balbus= Julia  (sister  of  Dictator  Caesar) 


(l>t  marriage)        |  ^  (2nd  marriage*  (1st  marriage) 

C  Octavius  =  Atia  maior=L.  Marcius  Philippus=  ? 

I  cos  56,  I 

Augustus  L.  Marcius  Philippus=Atia  minor 

iTac.  A.  3.  72.  2.) 


Paallus  Fabius  Maximus =Afarcia  maior 


(Ovid's  friend) 


(hence  cousin 
of  Augustus) 


Marcia  minor  =  Sextus  Pompeius 


Sextus  Pompeius 
Paullus  Fabius  Persicus.  *    '*  "^"  '* 

*  P.  1.  -2.  138,  *  ille  ego,  de  vestra  cui  dalanupta  dome  est.'    Cp.  intr. 
to  El.  vi.  p.  69. 

*  P.  i.  2.  117. 


FRIENDS  AND  PATRONS  OF  OVID, 


XXXIX 


an  epithalamium    on    his  nuptials'.      The    death   of   Fabius 
deprived  him  of  his  most  powerful  intercessor  ^. 

(5)  Two  brothers,  of  the  noble  gens  Poinponia^  C.  Pomponius 
Graecinus  and  L.  Pomponius  Flaccus,  must  next  be  considered 
among  the  patrons  of  the  poet  ;  though  from  the  four  Pontic 
Epistles  addressed  to  them,  three  to  Graecinus  (i.  6,  ii.  6,  iv.  9), 
and  one  to  Flaccus  (i.  10),  Ovid  seems  to  have  had  little  hopes 
that  they  would  be  helpful  towards  procuring  his  recall. 

Graecinus  was  a  man  of  culture  who  had  seen  some  military 
service  ^,  and  is  congratulated  by  Ovid,  in  P.  iv.  9,  on  his 
appointment  by  Tiberius  to  be  Consul  Suffectus  in  769/16,  and 
on  that  of  his  brother  Flaccus  to  be  Consul  Ordinarius  in 
770/17.  If,  as  is  probable,  he  is  the  Graecinus  of  Am.  ii.  10,  his 
intimacy  with  Ovid  was  of  long  duration.  He  was  absent  from 
Rome  at  the  time  of  the  poet's  banishment  ;  and  though  he  is 
always  addressed  with  much  warmth,  it  is  clear  that  he  was  not 
one  of  the  most  intimate  circle  of  friends,  and  that  Ovid  expected 
little  from  his  intercession  ;  for,  though  he  does  occasionally 
pray  for  his  advocacy,  the  tone  in  which  they  are  couched  shows 
that  such  prayers  are  inserted  rather  to  flatter  Graecinus  than 
because  anything  was  really  looked  for  from  him  *. 

Graecinus  was  co-opted  into  the  college  of  Arval  Brothers, 
May  30,  774/21,  and  as  he  is  not  mentioned  as  present  at 
the  meeting  of  November  16,  788/35,  he  must  have  died  before 
that  date. 

(6)  His  brother,  Ii.  Pomponius  Flaccus,  was  a  little  younger 
than  Graecinus  and  Ovid,  and  was  probably  born  about  735/19. 
During  the  three  years  that  intervened  between  his  praetorship 
and  consulship  he  held  some  command  in  Moesia^,  and  soon  after 

*  P.  i.  2.  131. 

^  P.  iv.  6. 9.  It  is  not  probable,  as  Merkel  conjectures,  prolus.  ad  Ibin, 
p.  392,  that  the  pleading  of  Fabius  on  behalf  of  Ovid  had  anything  to  do 
with  causing  his  sudden  death.     The  words  of  Ovid, 

'occidis  ante  preces:  causamque  ego,  Maxime,  mortis^ 
nee  fuero  tanti — me  reor  esse  tuae,' 
are  merely  the  language  of  poetical  exaggeration. 
'  P.  i.  6.  7  ff.  *  Koch,  p.  II. 

•  P.  iv.  9.  75,  'praefuit  his,  Graecine,  locis  modo  Flaccus.* 


xl 


INTRODUCTION, 


his  consulship,  in  770/17,  was  sent  back  again  to  administer  that 
province  as  *  legatus  pro  praetore,'  and  to  reduce  to  submission 
Rhescuporis,  king  of  Thrace,  who,  after  killing  his  nephew 
Cotys,  had  appropriated  his  dominions.  This  he  successfully 
effected,  for  he  captured  Rhescuporis  by  enticing  him  within  the 
Roman  camp,  and  sent  him  to  Rome  ^  Subsequently  he  was 
appointed  *  legatus '  of  Syria  in  785/32,  and  died  there  in  the 
following  year^  Tacitus  speaks  of  Flaccus  as  an  experienced 
soldier^, and  there  is  no  reason  why  we  should  mistrust  the  high 
praise  bestowed  by  Velleius  on  his  character  and  ability*. 

Though  not  so  intimate  with  the  poet  as  his  brother  Graecinus, 
Flaccus  seems  to  have  been  a  good  friend  to  Ovid,  and  to  have 
done  what  was  in  his  power  to  alleviate  the  discomforts  of  his 
exile  *. 

(7)  Last  of  the  patrons  of  Ovid  stands  Sextus  Pompeius,  the 
last  scion  of  the  house  of  Pompey  the  Great.  He  was  most 
probably  the  great-grandson  of  Sextus  Pompeius,  the  elder 
brother  of  Cn.  Pompeius  Strabo,  father  of  Pompey  the  Great, 
and  through  his  mother,  who  was  probably  a  Marcia,  younger 
sister  of  Marcia,  the  daughter  of  L.  Marcius  Philippus  and  the 
younger  Atia,  the  aunt  of  Augustus,  was  connected  with  the 
Imperial  family  ^. 

In  761/8,  the  year  of  Ovid's  banishment,  Pompeius  held  some 

*  Tac.  A,  ii.  67. 

*  Tac.  A.  vi.  27.    A  Syrian  coin  of  Flaccus,  struck  shortly  before  his 
death,  has  been  discovered.    Borghesi,  CEuvr.  Epigr.  iii.  85. 

'  •  veterem  stipendiis,'  A.  ii.  66. 

*  Vellei.  ii.  116,  'singulari  in  eo  negotio  usus  [i.e.  Tiberius]  opera 
Flacci  Pomponi,  consularis  viri,  nati  ad  omnia  quae  recte  faciunda  sunt, 
simplicique  virtute  merentis  quam  captantis  gloriam.*  The  story  that 
Tiberius  spent  thirty-six  hours  in  a  continuous  drinking-bout  with  Pom- 
ponius  Flaccus  and  Lucius  Piso,  and  rewarded  Flaccus  with  the  province 
of  Syria,  and  Piso  with  the  praefecture  of  the  city,  for  their  good  com- 
panionship (Suet.  Tib.  42  ;  Senec.  Ep.  83  ;  Plin.  H.  N.  xiv.  22.  145), 
is  probably  a  mere  piece  of  court  gossip  intentionally  rejected  by 
Tacitus.    See  Fumeaux,  Tacitus,  p.  24. 

*  P.  i.  TO.  37  if. 

*  Dio,  Ivi.  29,  iKiivoi  (the  consuls  of  769/14)  t€  -^  avr^€yus  nr/  rod 


FRIENDS  AND  PATRONS  OF  OVID. 


xli 


command  which  enabled  him  to  assist  the  poet  on  his  journey 
and  to  protect  his  life  when  in  danger  from  the  attacks  of  bar- 
barians ^,  and  as  a  complimentary  inscription  to  a  proconsul 
Sextus  Pompeius  has  been  discovered  at  Athens,  it  is  probable 
that  he  was  then  praetorian  proconsul  of  Achaia,  which  province 
was  usually  assigned  to  ex-praetors  ^  In  767/14,  the  year  of 
the  death  of  Augustus,  he  was  consul  with  Sextus  Appuleius 
throughout  the  whole  year,  and  these  two  were  the  first  to  take 
the  oath  of  allegiance  to  Tiberius ^  He  afterwards'  was 
appointed  proconsul  of  Asia,  and  seems  to  have  administered 
that  province  between  780/27  and  783/30  *.  Of  his  political  life 
as  a  consular  at  Rome  we  know  little  ;  in  773/20  he  declined  to 
defend  L.  Piso,  who  was  accused  of  murdering  Germanicus  '*, 
and  in  774/21  he  made  a  violent  attack  in  the  Senate  upon  M. 
Lepidus,  in  the  vain  attempt  to  prevent  his  selection  for  the  pro- 
consulship  of  Asia  ^  His  death  probably  occurred  about  792/39. 
In  the  last  years  of  his  life  Ovid  seems  to  have  centred  his 
hopes  of  restoration  mainly  on  Pompeius ;  for,  excepting  one 
letter  to  Graecinus,  none  other  of  his  patrons  are  addressed  in 
the  fourth  book  of  the  Pontic  Epistles  ;  while  to  Pompeius,  to 
whom  hitherto  he  had  not  written  at  all  ^,  four  letters  are  in- 
scribed, P.  iv.  I,  4,  5,  15  ^  In  all  these  his  attitude  is  one  of 
great  humility  towards  the  condescending  patron  who  had  saved  . 

Avyovarov  ovt€s  ^px^^-  See  Graeber,  i.  xxvii.,  and  pedigree  supr.  p. 
xxxviii. 

^  P.  iv.  5.  33  ff.;  15.  3ff. 

'  C.  I.  A.  iii.  I.  n.  592, 1)  /SouX^  1^  l£  *Ap€iov  vdyov  xal  6  S^/ios  "Xi^Tov 
Hoixrrffiov  dvOvwarov  dpfrrjs  ivt/C€V. 

'  Tac.  A.  1.  7. 

*  See  Graeber,  i.  xxviii ;  Fumeaux,  /.  c.  p.  96. 

*  Tac.  A.  iii.  11.  ^  Tac.  A.  iii,  32.  ^  P.  iv.  1.  9. 

*  Lorentz  assigns  T.  i.  5  and  v.  9  to  Pompeius ;  but  the  latter  poem 
is  much  better  suited  to  Cotta  Messallinus  (see  above),  and  the  former  is, 
from  its  tone,  manifestly  addressed  not  to  a  social  superior,  but  to  an 
equal  (Celsus),  to  one  who  is  *  post  ullos  numquam  memorande  sodales,* 
who  is  '  carissimus/  who  belongs  to  the  inner  circle  of  loyal  friends 
(1.  33)  ;  and  the  whole  attitude  is  different  from  the  humility  adopted 
towards  Pompeius. 


xlii 


INTRODUCTION. 


his  life ',  and  assisted  him  from  his  own  purse  ^,  whose  humble 
servant  and  chattel  he  asserts  himself  to  be  ",  and  whom,  next  to 
the  Caesars,  he  counts  among  earth's  greatest  *.  It  is  interesting 
to  notice  that  the  eloquence  of  Pompeius  is  extolled  both  by 
Ovid  and  by  Valerius  Maximus,  to  whom  also  he  acted  as  a 
munificent  patron  ^ 

Ovid  speaks  of  the  great  wealth  of  Pompeius,  who,  besides  a 
mansion  at  Rome  close  to  the  Forum  Augusti,  possessed  broad 
estates  in  Sicily,  Macedonia,  and  Campania  ;  and  Seneca  cites 
him  as  a  typical  example  of  a  rich  man  *'.  On  the  other  hand, 
when  in  775/22  the  Theatre  of  Pompey  was  accidentally  destroyed 
by  fire,  Tiberius  undertook  to  restore  it  at  his  own  cost,  because, 
says  Tacitus,  there  was  none  of  the  house  of  Pompey  who  could 
bear  the  expense,  though  the  family  was  not  extinct ".  The  only 
Pompeius  then  alive  was  Sextus.  Hence  there  is  a  seeming  con- 
tradiction, which  must  be  reconciled  by  supposing  either  that 
Pompeius,  though  rich,  was  not  rich  enough  for  so  enormous  an 
outlay,  which  may  well  have  overtasked  the  resources  of  any 
private  individual  ;  or  that,  as  this  happened  before  his  pro- 
consulate in  Asia,  he  may  have  vastly  increased  his  wealth  by 
the  administration  of  that  province. 

One  of  the  Pontic  Epistles  (ii.  i)  is  to  Germanicus  Caesar,  to  . 
whom  also  the  Fasti  is  dedicated  ;  and  one  is  to  the  Thracian 
prince    Cotys,  who  was  murdered  by  Rhescuporis,  and  who, 
according  to  Ovid,  had  a  cultivated  taste  for  literature  (ii.  9). 

(ii)  It  has  been  possible  to  identify  from  external  sources 
those  powerful  friends  of  Ovid  who  belonged  to  the  great  families 
of  Rome.  On  the  other  hand,  as  we  should  naturally  expect, 
our  knowledge  of  the  acquaintances  of  the  poet,  who  belonged  to 
his  own  station,  is  confined  almost  entirely  to  what  we  learn 
from  his  works.  These  friends  are  divisible  into  two  dategories  ; 
a  distribution  suggested  by  the  poet  himself.  We  must  distinguish 

*  P.  iv.  5.  31.  »  P.  iv.  I.  24. 

'  iv.  5.  40,  •  iurat  Se  fore  mancipii  tempus  in  omne  tui/  cp.  iv.  15.  19 
and  12. 

*  iv.  15.  4-  '  P-  iv.  4.  37  ;  Val.  Max.  ii.  6.  8. 

*  P.  iv.  15.  15  ff. ;  Sen.  de  Tranq.  An.  xi.  §  n.       ^  Tac.  A.  iii.  72. 


FRIENDS  AND  PATRONS  OF  OVID, 


xliii 


from  the  general  body  that  small  circle  of  nearer  friends  who 
stood  by  him  in  his  disgrace,  who  were  present  on  the  sad  night 
of  his  final  departure  from  Rome,  and  who,  by  their  consolations 
and  material  assistance,  did  their  best  to  alleviate  the  miseries 
of  his  exile  \  Only  four  can  be  included  in  this  number— Celsus, 
Brutus,  Atticus,  and  Carus. 

Of  these  (i)  Celsus,  like  Ovid  himself,  enjoyed  the  patronage 
and  friendship  of  Cotta  MessalHnus  2.  His  death  is  lamented 
in  an  affecting  poem  (P.  i.  9),  in  which  his  integrity  and  lofty 
character  are  extolled.  He  was  one  of  the  few  who  remained 
faithful  to  the  poet  when  most  of  his  friends  fled  away  at  the 
time  of  his  disgrace  ;  he  restrained  the  frantic  exile  from  laying 
violent  hands  upon  himself ;  and  such  was  his  affection  that  he 
even  offered  to  undertake  the  long  journey  to  Pontus  to  visit  his 
friend.  It  is  possible  that  this  Celsus  is  the  Albinovanus  Celsus 
of  Horace,  Epp.  i.  8,  who  is  mentioned  in  Epp.  i.  3.  15  as  one  of 
the  suite  that  accompanied  Tiberius  on  his  expedition  into 
Armenia,  and  he  seems  to  have  been  a  minor  poet  \ 

i.  5  and  iii.  6  of  the  Tristia  are  to  be  assigned  to  Celsus  *. 

(2)  That  Atticus  belonged  to  the  little  group  of  faithful 
friends  is  shown  by  P.  ii.  7.  81  ff".  He  was  a  sodalis,  on  a  social 
equality  with  the  poet,  and  their  intimacy  had  been  very  close  • 

*  This  narrower  inner  circle  of  friends  is  constantly  mentioned  as  the 

*vix  duo  tresve  amid.*    The  chief  passages  are  T.  i.  3.  15  : 

'adloquor  extremum  maestos  abiturus  amicos, 

qui  modo  de  multis  unus  et  alter  erant.' 
T.  i.  5.  33  : 

•  vix  duo  tresve  mihi  de  tot  superestis  amici : 
cetera  Fortunae,  non  mea  turba  fuit. 
quo  magis,  o  pauci,  rebus  succurrite  laesis.' 
T.  iii.  5.  10  : 

*idque  recens  praestas  nee  longo  cognitus  usu, 

quod  veterum  misero  zix  duo  tresve  mihi.' 
T.  v.  4.  35  : 

*te  sibi  cum  paucis  meminit  mansisse  fidelem, 
si  paucos  aliquis  tresve  duosve  vocat.' 
See  also  P.  i.  9.  15  ;  ii.  3.  29. 

'^  P.  i.  9-  35- 

3  Hennig,  p.  15.  *  Graeber,  i.  xxi;  ii.  4. 


xliv 


INTRODUCTION, 


in  forum  or  colonnade  or  street  or  theatre  they  were  always  seen 
together  ^  •  About  his  personality  nothing  further  is  known  ;  for 
the  conjectures  which  find  in  him  the  eques  illustris  Curtius 
Atticus  of  Tacitus,  who  formed  one  of  the  retinue  of  Tiberius  in 
his  latter  days  ^  or  the  grammarian  Dionysius  of  Pergamon, 
who  was  made  a  Roman  citizen  by  Agrippa,  with  the  name  of 
M.  Vipsanius  Atticus,  do  not  correspond  with  the  description  of 
Ovid,  who  speaks  of  him  as  a  bosom  friend  of  equal  station,  not 
as  a  social  superior  or  a  professional  grammarian '. 

Am.  i.  9,  P.  ii.  4  and  ii.  7  are  addressed  to  this  Atticus  ;  and 
T.  V.  4  may  with  certainty  be  assigned  to  him  *. 

(3)  Brutus  also  must  be  counted  in  the  number  of  the  two 
or  three  faithful  friends*.  He  is  spoken  of  as  one  whose  affec- 
tion was  intensified  when  adversity  befel  the  poet  ®.  About  his 
personality  too  we  are  perfectly  in  the  dark  ;  the  language  of 
Ovid,  who  addresses  no  requests  to  him  for  intercession  on  his 
behalf,  shows  that  the  two  were  of  equal  station,  and  that  Brutus 
did  not  occupy  any  prominent  position,  either  social  or  political, 
though  he  held  some  minor  judicial  post,  probably  as  Ovid 
himself  had  done,  in  the  centumviral  court  ^.  He  acted  as 
editor  of  P.  i-iii,  which  he  had  the  courage  to  publish,  without 
waiting  or  hesitating  during  the  life  of  Augustus  ;  and  his 
literary  taste  is  further  attested  by  recommendation  to  his  care 
of  the  poem  which  Ovid  had  made  about  Augustus. 

P.  i.  I  and  iii.  9  are  inscribed  to  Brutus  in  his  capacity  of 
editor,  but  in  them  his  personality  is  kept  entirely  in  the  back- 
ground; he  is  the  vehicle  through  which  the  whole  body  of 
readers  is  addressed.  Thus,  for  our  knowledge  of  him  we  are 
thrown  entirely  on  P.  iv.  6,  where  his  kindly  heart,  his  sympathetic 

'  P.  ii.  4.  19. 
»  Tac.  A.  ii.  58. 

'  The  former  theory,  that  of  Lorentz,  p.  31,  and  the  latter,  that  of 
Unger,  are  refuted  by  Graeber,  ii.  4. 

*  Graeber,  ii.  12;  Lorentz,  p.  33.  Lorentz  also  assigns  iv.  7,  v.  6, 
and  V.  13  to  Atticus  upon  very  insufficient  grounds. 

*  P.  iv.  6.  41  and  49. 
«  P.  iv.  6.  21  ff. 

'  P.  iv.  6.  33. 


FRIENDS  AND  PATRONS  OF  OVID, 


xlv 


nature,  and  loyal  friendship  are  highly  recommended.     Of  the 
Tristia  i.  7  and  iii.  4  are  to  be  assigned  to  Brutus  ^ 

(4)  The  fourth  and  last  member  of  this  little  circle  of  faithful 
friends  is  Carus,  who  in  P.  iv.  13,  the  only  letter  to  him  of  the 
Pontic  Epistles,  is  described  as  a  dear  and  trusty  companion. 
Cams  was  himself  a  literary  man,  and  wrote  a  poem  on  the 
achievements  of  Hercules  ^  which  Ovid  considered  very  finished 
in  style.  He  was  appointed  tutor  to  the  children  of  Germanicus^ 
and  is  implored  by  the  poet  to  use  what  influence  he  may  have 
on  his  behalf*.  It  is  not  stated  directly  in  P.  iv.  13  that  Cams 
belonged  to  the  small  number  of  faithful  friends,  but  this  is 
clearly  established  by  T.  iii.  5  (see  especially  1.  7  ff.),  which, 
since  the  time  of  Heinsius,  has  been  generally  admitted  to  be  to 
Carus,  as  is  proved  by  the  allusion  in  it  (1.  42)  to  his  poem  about 
Hercules  ^ 

These  are  all  that  can  be  definitely  referred  to  the  narrower 
group  of  friends,  but  there  are  many  others  addressed  in  the 
Pontic  Epistles  with  whom  the  poet  enjoyed  considerable  fa- 
miliarity. 

(5)  Among  these  Macer  stands  out  prominently,  his  poet 
friend,  the  old  companion  of  his  student  travels  in  Asia  Minor, 
Sicily,  and  Greece  ;  with  whom,  over  and  above  the  common 
ties  of  friendship,  he  was  connected  in  some  way  through  his 
wife  ^  It  is  not  unlikely  that  the  wife  of  Macer  was  sister  to  the 
third  wife  of  Ovid  ;  and  Macer  would  accordingly  have  enjoyed, 
like  Ovid,  the  patronage  of  Fabius  Maximus,  and  thus  may 
have  come  under  the  notice  of  the  Emperor,  and  may  well  be 
the  Pompeius  Macer  who  was  appointed  curator  of  the  public 

*  See  intr.  to  El.  vii.  p.  65.  Both  Schulz,  p.  8,  and  Graeber,  ii.  13. 
assign  iii  4  to  Brutus ;  iii.  14  is  also  given  to  him  by  Lorentz,  p.  42,  and 
Wartenberg,  p.  63  (who  also  gives  v.  7  to  him),  but  the  evidence  is 
very  uncertain :  see  Graeber,  ii.  8. 

*  P.  iv.  13.  II,  16.  7  ;  Hennig,  p.  26.  »  P.  iv.  13.  47. 

*  P.  iv.  13,  50. 

*  Graeber,  ii.  11.  Though  Graeber  argues  against  it  I  am  convinced 
with  Lorentz,  p.  47,  and  Hennig,  p.  26,  that  i.  9  is  also  to  Carus ;  but 
Lorentz  is  wrong  (p.  46)  in  assigning  to  him  iii.  4,  which  is  better  given 
to  Brutus.  e  See  intr.  to  El.  viii.  p.  69. 


f  ' 


xlvi 


INTRODUCTION. 


libraries'.  He  wrote  an  epic  poem  dealing  with  the  story  of  the 
Trojan  war  prior  to  the  point  at  which  it  is  taken  up  in  Iliad  i  '^. 

Macer  is  addressed  in  Am.  ii.  i8  and  P.  ii.  lo,  and  he  appears 
to  be  the  faithless  friend  of  i.  8,  who  was  linked  to  the  poet  by 
long  familiarity,  by  potent  ties,  and  by  companionship  in  travel. 
Macer  was  one  of  those  who  did  not  come  to  bid  farewell  on 
the  night  of  the  departure  from  Rome,  and  apparently  had  not 
yet  written  to  his  unfortunate  friend  at  Tomi,  when  P.  ii.  lo  was 
composed  ;  and  we  may  well  suppose  that  in  the  bitterness  and 
first  excitement  of  his  exile  Ovid  may  have  judged  his  defaulting 
friend  with  such  severity  as  is  expressed  in  i.  8  ^ 

Of  the  remaining  friends  addressed  by  name  in  the  Pontic 
Epistles  there  is  none  to  whom  we  can  with  certainty  ascribe 
any  of  the  Tristia. 

(6)  Albinovanus  Pedo — who  must  be  distinguished  from 
Albinovanus  Celsus — was  also  a  poet  of  some  pretensions,  who 
is  described  by  Ovid  as  soaring  in  style  *,  by  Martial  as  accom- 
plished^, and  by  the  philosopher  Seneca,  who  knew  him  per- 
sonally, as  a  witty  talker  ^  He  was  one  of  the  officers  of 
Germanicus  in  Germany,  and  was  with  him  in  the  disastrous 
storm  which  overtook  his  fleet  on  the  ocean  when  returning  at 
the  end  of  the  campaign  of  765/16^.  This  calamity  he  described 
in  a  fragment  of  twenty-three  hexameter  lines  preserved  by 
M.  Seneca,  which  formed  part  of  a  longer  poem  on  the  achieve- 
ments of  Germanicus  *.  Consequently  he  was  one  of  those  who 
glorified  in  verse  the  nation's  imperial  grandeur  ;  but  he  did  not 
confine  himself  to  domestic  subjects,  for  he  wrote  besides  a 
heroic  poem  in  the  Greek  manner  upon  the  legend  of  Theseus 
and    Pirithous^      Moreover,  from  references  in   Martial  and 

*  Suet.  Caes.  56. 

^  Hennig,  pp.  22-23.  That  he  also  wrote  a  conclusion  to  the  Iliad, 
as  has  been  supposed  by  some  critics,  is  shown  by  Hennig  to  be  highly 
improbable.     See  Teuffel,  R.  L.  247.  3, 

^  Merkel  on  i.  8.  33  ;  Graeber,  ii.  9. 

*  •  sidereus,'  P.  iv.  16.  6.  ^   '  doctus,'  Mart.  ii.  77.  5. 

*  Sen.  Ep.  122. 15.  Cp.  M.  Sen.  Controv.  ii.  10.     '  Tac.  A.  i.  60  ;  ii.  23. 

*  Sen.  Suas.  i.  14.  The  fragment  is  given  in  Fumeaux*  Tacitus,  p.  352, 
»  P.  iv.  10.  71. 


FRIENDS  AND  PATRONS  OF  OVID. 


xlvii 


Quintilian  he  appears  to  have  composed  epigrams'.  P.  iv.  10, 
which  is  addressed  to  Albinovanus,  is  written  in  a  cool  tone,  and 
leaves  the  impression  that  his  friendship  was  not  of  a  very 
intimate  character. 

(7)  To  Gallic  we  have  one  epistle  (P.  iv.  11)  which  is  warmer 
in  expression.  The  poet  with  exquisite  delicacy  and  feeling 
offers  consolation  to  his  friend  on  the  loss  of  his  wife.  From  the 
first  line  it  appears  that  he  had  not  hitherto  written  to  Gallio. 

(8)  Amongst  those  who  were  absent  on  the  night  of  the 
departure  from  Rome  must  also  be  counted  Rufinus,  to  whom 
two  of  the  Pontic  Epistles  (i.  3  and  iii.  4)  are  inscribed.  In  the 
first  of  these  Ovid  tenders  his  thanks  for  a  letter  of  sympathy. 
We  gather  that  Rufinus  was  a  man  of  somewhat  austere  nature, 
who  had  offered  to  the  poet  the  cold  comforts  of  philosophy, 
and  of  the  consideration  that  many  others  in  legend  and  history, 
whose  cases  he  had  cited,  had  suffered  before  him.  And  he 
seems  to  have  rebuked  him  for  effeminacy  in  giving  vent  too 
freely  to  his  grief.  To  this  Ovid  hints  in  reply  that  he  gets  very 
little  assistance  for  such  consolations.  In  iii.  4  the  writer's  poem 
on  the  Triumph  of  Tiberius  of  Jan.  16,  766/13,  is  commended 
to  Rufinus  '^, 

(9)  Salanus  is  addressed  in  P.  ii.  5  as  one  who,  though  there 
had  been  little  intercourse  between  them,  had  expressed  great 
pain  at  the  poet's  exile,  and  had  shown  a  kindly  appreciation  of 
his  poetry,  which,  as  he  was  a  man  of  literary  culture  ^  and  an 
accomplished  speaker  *,  was  highly  gratifying.  He  was,  more- 
over, a  man  of  good  position  and  intimate  with  Germanicus*. 

(10)  To  the  poet  Cornelius  Severus,  who  is  affectionately 
apostrophised  as  'iocunde  sodalis^'  are  addressed  P.i.  8  and  iv.2. 
He  wrote  an  epic  on  a  national  theme,  which,  from  the  scanty 
references  to  it  that  we  possess,  seems  to  have  celebrated  in 
verse  the  story  of  the  civil  wars  from  the  first  intervention  of 

*  Mart,  pjooem.  ad  i. ;  ii.  77  ;  v.  5 ;  Quintil.  vi.  3.  61. 
'  Koch,  p.  9 ;  Graeber,  ii.  10. 

'  *  doctissimus,'  P.  ii.  5.  15.  *  Ibid.  40. 

'  We  know  too  little  of  Salanus  and  his  relations  with  Ovid  to  admit 
as  proved  the  theory  of  Schulz,  p.  4,  that  T.  i.  9  is  addressed  to  him. 

•  P.  i.  8.  25. 


Ii 


xlviii 


INTRODUCTION. 


Octavian  to  the  final  defeat  of  Antony.  Of  this  poem,  the 
description  of  an  eruption  of  Aetna,  mentioned  by  L.  Seneca  ^ ; 
the  celebrated  fragment  on  the  death  of  Cicero,  preserved  by 
M.  Seneca^;  and  the  account  of  the  SiciHan  war  between 
Octavian  and  Sextus  Pompeius  referred  to  by  Quintihan  *,  all 
appear  to  have  formed  episodes  *. 

(ii)  To  Tutieanus  two  letters  (P.  iv.  12  and  14)  are  inscribed, 
in  which  he  is  mentioned  as  a  contemporary  friend  of  Ovid^ 
who  had  always  given  him  the  benefit  of  his  friendly  criticism 
and  encouragement  ^  but  from  whom,  as  his  equal,  he  did  not 
look  for  much  help  in  his  trouble,  and  who  cannot  have  been  one 
of  the  few  faithful  friends,  as  must  be  inferred  from  Ovid's 
silence  on  this  point  ^.  Tuticanus  also  was  a  minor  poet,  who 
either  translated  or,  as  is  more  probable,  freely  adopted  the 
Odyssey,  whether  the  whole  of  it  or  only  the  part  which  narrates 
the  stay  of  Ulysses  in  Phaeacia — as  the  language  of  Ovid  would 
rather  appear  to  indicate — is  uncertain  ^ 

(12)  Of  Vestalis,  the  friend  to  whom  P.  iv.  7  is  addressed,  we 
know  little.  He  was  a  soldier  who  held  a  commission  in 
Moesia,  near  Tomi,  and  was  probably  engaged  against  Rhescu- 

^  Ep.  79.  5.  Some  writers  have  from  this  wrongly  supposed  Severus 
to  have  been  the  author  of  the  Aetna.     See  Munro's  Aetna,  pp.  32-33. 

*  Suas.  vi.  26.  ^  X.  I.  89. 

*  Certain  discrepancies  between  P.  i.  8  and  iv.  2,  which  are  not  so 
serious  as  to  be  conclusive,  have  induced  Hennig,  p.  6  ff.,  and  Schulz, 
p.  31  ff.,  to  propound  and  support  with  much  ingenuity  a  theory  that 
there  were  two  Severi ;  but  I  agree  with  Graeber,  ii.  10,  in  considering 
that  the  evidence  is  too  slight  to  warrant  our  embracing  this  as  proved. 

'  P.  iv.  12.  20: 

*paene  milu  puero  cognite  paene  puer.* 
«  Ibid,  23-30.  '  Graeber,  ii.  10.  *  P.  iv.  12.  27: 

*  dignam  Maeoniis  Phaeacida  condere  cartis 
cum  te  Pierides  perdocuere  tuae.* 
His  poem  is  mentioned  again  in  16.  27,  *et  qui  Maeoniafh  Phaeacida 
Tertit ; '  though  there  his  name  is  avoided  on  account  of  the  difficulty  of 
adjusting  its  trochaic  measure  (Tiiticanus)  to  the  dactylic  metre,  a 
difficulty  which  is  alleged  playfully  by  the  poet  in  P.  iv.  12.  i  ff.  as  a 
reason  why  he  had  not  written  to  his  friend  before. 


CAUSE  OF  OVID'S  BANISHMENT 


xHx 


pons  \  He  was  the  grandson  of  Donnus  ^  and  son  of  M.  lulius 
Cotta  ^  and  cannot  be  reckoned  among  the  poet's  more  intimate 
friends. 

Such  forms  the  complete  list  of  the  friends  known  to  have 
been  addressed  by  Ovid  in  the  poems  of  his  exile.  To  them 
must  be  added  the  one  anxious  sodalis,  who  certainly  had  not 
the  courage  to  show  himself  faithful  at  the  time  of  the  poet's 
banishment,  since  his  timidity  had  impelled  him  to  ask  that  his 
name  should  be  concealed  even  in  the  Pontic  Epistles  *. 


IV. 
On  the  Cause  of  Ovid's  Banishment. 

Two  causes  are  assigned  by  Ovid  for  his  banishment.  The 
first  was  the  immoral  tendency  of  his  Ars  Amatoria ;  which  was 
expelled  by  the  Emperor  from  the  public  libraries.  The  licence  of  ' 
the  civil  wars  had  given  a  severe  shock  to  morality :  peace  had 
been  restored  to  the  world  by  the  victory  of  Augustus :  but  the 
universal  weariness  of  warfare,  the  passing  away  of  the  old  order, 
and  the  want  of  a  field  for  free  political  activity,  had  contributed 
to  centre  men's  interests  mainly  in  material  luxury  and  ease.  The 
ancestral  virtues  of  temperance  and  sobriety  had  given  place  to 
profligacy ;  and  the  patriotism  and  public  spirit  which  had  led 
the  old  Roman  to  put  the  good  of  the  state  before  all  other  con- 
siderations existed  no  longer,  but  had  given  place  to  a  growing 
disinclination  for  political  or  military  services.  This  feeling  finds 
expression  in  Ovid,  who  was  essentially  the  creature  of  his  age, 
T.  iii.  4.  25  : 

*  crede  mihi,  bene  qui  latuit,  bene  vixit,  et  intra 
fortunam  debet  quisque  manere  suam.* 

Augustus   saw   that  such   prevalent  indifference  was  destined 

*  Schulz,  p.  36  ff.,  conjectures  with  much  probability  that  he  was 
the  centurion  sent  by  Tiberius  to  the  quarrelling  Thracian  kings, 
Rhescuporis  and  his  nephew  Cotys,  to  prevent  them  from  making  war 
on  one  another.     Tac.  A.  ii.  64.     See  Graeber,  ii.  10. 

*  P.  iv.  7.  29, '  progenies  alti  fortissima  Donni.* 

»  Orelli,  626.    C.  I.  L.  7231.  *  p.  iii.  6. 


1 


INTRODUCTION. 


to  prove  the  ruin  of  the  empire :  and  the  remedy  which  he 
adopted  was  to  attempt  to  restore  the  ancient  simplicity  of 
manners  and  religious  faith.  To  this  end  was  directed  his 
legislation  for  the  encouragement  of  marriage  ^ ;  the  fruitlessness 
of  which  was  bitterly  brought  home  to  him  by  the  discovery  of 
the  profligacy  of  his  daughter,  the  elder  Julia,  who  was  exiled  in 
consequence  to  the  island  of  Pandataria  in  752/2.  By  a  remark- 
able coincidence  the  Ars  Amatoria  was  published  in  this  very 
year ;  and  its  instantaneous  success  might  well  have  seemed  an 
additional  outrage  to  the  father's  feelings,  and  a  public  danger  in 
the  sovereign's  eyes.  The  publication  of  the  book  was  hardly 
sufficient  ground  for  punishing  its  author ;  but  Augustus  seems 
never  to  have  forgotten  it.  The  poet  was  henceforward  a  marked 
man ;  and  the  Emperor  only  awaited  a  suitable  opportunity  for 
avenging  the  affront  that  had  been  put  upon  him.  This  was  no 
doubt  the  original,  and  probably  the  principal  reason,  of  the 
Emperor's  anger  against  Ovid.  But  the  second  cause  which 
led  immediately  to  his  banishment  is  involved  in  obscurity. 
The  poet  himself  persistently  refrains  from  disclosing  it ;  and 
numerous  attempts  have  been  made  to  explain  the  riddle. 

But  though  he  does  not  openly  name  his  offence,  Ovid  lets  fall 
several  hints  as  to  its  nature.  And  in  order  to  arrive  at  a  solu- 
tion, such  expressions  must  be  collected  and  considered. 

(l)  There  was  no  breach  of  law  on  Ovid's  part ;  the  original 
fault  was  a  mere  mistake  {error) ^  an  act  of  folly,  and  unpre- 
meditated.   See  T.  i.  2.  97  ;  Z-  Zl  \  5*  4i' 

ii.  109 : 

*  me  malus  abstulit  error.* 
iii.  I.  51  : 

*in  quo  poenarum,  quas  se  mertiisse  fatetur, 
non  facinus  causam,  sed  suus  error  habet.* 
iii.  6.  25 : 

*idque  ita,  si  nullum  scelus  est  in  pectore  nostro, 
principiumque  mei  criminis  error  habet.^ 
Ibid.  35  : 

*  stultitiamque  meum  crimen  debere  vocari, 

nomina  si  facto  reddere  vera  veils.* 

*  See  Appendix,  on  El.  ii.  102. 


CAUSE  OF  OVWS  BANISHMENT, 


u 


p.  i,  6.  19: 

*  quae  (i.  e.  mea  pectora) 
stulta  magis  dici  quam  scelerata  decet.' 

T.  iv.  4.  43  : 

'ergo  ut  lure  damns  poenas,  sic  abfuit  omne 
peccato  facinus  consiliumque  meo.' 

P.  i.  7.  41  : 

*  quod  nisi  delicti  pars  excusabilis  esset, 

parva  relegari  poena  futura  fuit.* 

ii.  9.  71 : 

•nee  quicquam,  quod  lege  vetor  committere,  feci/ 

See  also  T.  iii.  11.  34;  iv.  i.  23  ;   8.40;  10.89;    v.  2.17; 
4.  18  ;  II.  17.     P.  i.  7.  43. 

(2)  But  he  had  been  an  unintentional  witness  of  some  crime 
committed  by  another  or  others. 

T.  ii.  103 : 

*  cur  aliquid  vidi  ?  cur  noxia  lumina  feci  ? 

cur  i?7iprudenti  cognita  culpa  mihi? 
inscius  Actaeon  vidit  sine  veste  Dianam: 
praeda  fuit  canibus  non  minus  ille  suis.* 

iii.  5-49: 

'  inscia  quod  crimen  videnint  lumina,  plector, 
peccatumque  oculos  est  habuisse  meum.' 

Ibid.  6.  27 : 

'  nee  breve  nee  tutum  quo  sint  mea  dicere  casu 
lumina  funesti  conscia  facta  mali.* 

And  it  was  something  shameful ; 
T.  V.  8.  23  : 

*vel  quia  peccavi  citra  scelus,  utque  pudore 
non  caret,  invidia  sic  mea  culpa  caret.' 

(3)  It  was  something  that  nearly  affected  Augustus,  and  the 
mention  of  it  was  likely  to  prove  very  painful  and  offensive  to 
him. 

T.  ii.  133: 

'tristibus  inveclus  verbis — ita  principe  dignum — 
ultus  es  offensas,  ut  decet,  ipse  tuas.* 
Ibid.  207 : 

*perdiderint  cnm  me  duo  crimina,  carmen  et  error, 
alterius  facti  culpa  silenda  mihi : 

d  2 


Hi 


INTRODUCTION-, 


nam  non  sum  tanti,  renovem  ut  tua  vulnera,  Caesar, 
quern  nimio  plus  est  indoluisse  semel.' 
P.  ii.  2.  59: 

'vulneris  id  genus  est,  quod  cum  sanabile  non  sit, 

non  contrectari  tutius  esse  puto. 
lingua  sile :  non  est  ultra  narrabile  quicquam ; 
posse  velim  cineres  obruere  ipse  meos.* 
See  T.  i.  5.  52. 

(4)  What  it  was,  was  a  matter  of  general  notoriety  at  Rome. 
T.  iv.  10,  99: 

*  causa  meae  cunctis  nimium  quoque  nota  ruinae 
indicio  non  est  testificanda  meo.' 

P-  i.  7-  39 : 

'et  tamen  ut  cuperem  culpam  quoque  posse  negari, 
sic  facinus  nemo  nescit  abesse  mihi.' 

(5)  Though  the  original    fault    was    a    mere   venial    error, 
yet  he  neglected  to  atone  for  it  by  his  subsequent  conduct. 

T.  iv.  4.  37 : 

*hanc  quoque,  qua  peril,  culpam  scelus  esse  negabis, 
si  tanti  series  sit  tibi  nota  mali.^ 
iii.  6.  1 1 : 

'cuique  ego  narrabam  secret!  quicquid  habebam, 

excepto  quod  me  perdidit,  unus  eras, 
id  quoque  si  scisses,  salvo  fruerere  sodali, 
consilioque  forem  sospes,  amice,  tuo.* 
P.  ii.  6.  7  : 

•vera  facis,  sed  sera,  meae  convicia  culpae ; 

aspera  confesso  verba  remitte  reo. 
cum  poteram  recto  transire  Ceraunia  velo, 
ut  fera  vitarem  saxa,  monendus  eram.* 
See  P.  ii.  3.  91. 

(6)  But  his  timidity  prevented  him  from  taking  the  right  course. 
T.  iv.  4.  39  : 

'aut  timor  aut  error  nobis,  prius  obfuit  error.* 
P.  ii.  2.  17: 

'nil  nisi  non  sapiens  possum  timidusqne  vocari: 
haec  duo  sunt  animi  nomina  vera  mei.' 

(7)  What  he  did  arose  from  no  hope  of  personal  gain,  and 
tended  to  ruin  no  one  but  himself. 


CAl/SE  OF  0  FID'S  BANISHMENT. 


liii 


P.  ii.  2.  15  : 

*  est  mea  culpa  gravis,  sed  quae  me  perdere  solum 
ausa  sit,  et  nullum  maius  adorta  nefas.* 

T.  iii.  6.  33  : 

'  nil  igitur  referam,  nisi  me  peccasse :  sed  illo 
praemia  peccato  nulla  petita  mihi.' 

What  then  was  this  offence  against  the  Emperor,  which  so 
nearly  affected  the  honour  of  his  name  ? 

Following  closely  upon  the  exile  of  Ovid  occurred  the  disgrace 
of  the  younger  daughter  of  the  elder  Julia,  and  granddaughter  of 
Augustus.  In  spite  of  the  example  of  her  mother's  fate  the  young 
princess  followed  the  same  evil  courses,  and  was  banished  in 
762/9  to  the  island  Trimerus  on  the  shore  of  Apulia.  Her 
paramour,  D.  Silanus,  was  excluded  from  the  friendship  of  the 
Emperor  \  and  voluntarily  withdrew  into  exile.  It  seems  impos- 
sible not  to  connect  the  two  events.  According  to  this  theory 
we  may  suppose  that  Julia  and  Silanus  attached  to  themselves 
the  accomplished  and  fashionable  poet  of  the  Art  of  Love.  They 
found  in  him  a  pleasant  and  amusing  confidant.  And  he  was 
not  likely  to  trouble  lovers  with  scruples  ;  to  him  the  wish 
of  the  Emperor's  granddaughter  was  equivalent  to  a  command, 
or  perhaps  his  vanity  was  stirred  by  the  splendour  of  the  con- 
nexion with  the  imperial  house.  Augustus  had  always  regarded 
him  with  coldness ;  but  now  the  opportunity  seemed  to  have 
presented  itself  of  attaining  to  what  was  the  dearest  wish  of  his 
heart,  the  position  of  the  recognised  poet  of  the  court.  When 
his  own  eyes  told  him  the  nature  of  the  connexion^,  he  would  be 
sure  to  think  silence  was  the  only  discreet,  if  not  the  only  fair, 
course  to  adopt ;  any  act  would  involve  personal  danger,  which 
he  was  too  timid  to  risk''.  Thus  he  became  no  doubt  their 
confidant,  though  without  gain  to  himself*.  The  affair  was  soon 
noised  abroad  and  reached  the  Emperor's  ears.  The  oppor- 
tunity had  come  at  last ;  the  desired  pretext  was  afforded 
against  the  author  of  the  Art  of  Love.     Ovid  was  the  first  of 


'  Tac.  A.  iii.  24. 
'  See  above  (6). 


'  See  above  (2), 
*  See  above  (7). 


i 


Uv 


INTRODUCTION', 


the  three  to  suffer  ;  and  upon  him  was  laid  the  severest  punish- 
ment '• 


V. 

The  Literary  Value  of  the  Tristia. 

The  Tristia  of  Ovid  has  been  frequently  disparaged  on  two 
accounts:  (i)  the  matter  of  the  poems,  and  (2)  their  form 
has  been  impugned.  Let  us  inquire  into  the  truth  of  these 
charges. 

(i)  It  has  often  been  alleged  that  the  reader  is  wearied  by  the 
sameness  of  the  subject-matter.  But  if  we  consider  that  the  five 
books  of  the  Tristia  are  a  collection  of  elegies  professedly  deal- 
ing with  the  exile's  unhappy  lot,  we  shall  be  astonished  rather  at 
the  ingeniously  diversified  treatment  with  which  what  might  well 
have  become  a  monotonous  theme  has  been  handled  ^  An  ex- 
amination, elegy  by  elegy,  of  the  contents  of  the  different  books 
will  make  this  apparent. 

Let  us  begin  with  the  first,  with  which  we  are  more  directly 
concerned.  The  prefatory  El.  i.  is  a  highly  ingenious  apology 
for  the  shortcomings  of  the  work.  Ell.  ii.  and  iv.  contain  two 
vigorous  descriptions  of  a  storm  at  sea.  El.  iii,  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  of  Ovid's  poems,  is  an  exquisitely  touching  description 
of  his  last  night  at  Rome,  and  sad  departure  into  his  hopeless 
exile.  El.  v.  is  a  finished  eulogium  of  loyal  friendship.  El.  vi. 
contains  the  expression  of  his  affection  towards  his  loving  wife. 

^  The  theory  here  adopted  is  that  of  Gaston  Boissier,  L*Opposition 
sous  les  Cesars,  ch.  3.  The  paper  by  Thomas  Dyer  in  the  Classical 
Museum,  vol.  4.  pp.  229-247,  On  the  cause  of  Ovicfs  exile,  has  also  been 
of  great  use.  The  Essai  sur  I'exile  d'Ovide  (Paris,  1859)  by  A.  Deville 
is  a  successful  refutation  of  most  of  the  solutions  that  have  been 
proposed.  See  further  on  this  subject  my  introduction  to  Bk.  Ill 
(Clarendon  Press,  1889^ 

^  The  same  criticism  has  been  made  upon  Tennyson's  In  Memoriam, 
and  may  be  answered  in  the  same  way. 


LITERARY  VALUE  OF  THE   TRISTIA, 


Iv 


El.  vii.  is  an  apology  for  the  Metamorphoses ;  El.  viii.  a  vehe- 
ment expostulation  with  a  friend  who  had  deserted  him.  El.  ix. 
contrasts  the  success  of  one  of  his  friends  with  his  own  ruin. 
El.  X.  is  a  topographical  account  of  the  route  from  Italy  to  Tomi. 
El.  xi.  forms  the  epilogue  to  the  Book.  The  charge  of  monotony 
is  still  further  refuted  by  the  contents  of  Book  ii,  one  of  the 
most  elaborate  of  all  the  works  of  Ovid,  full  of  literary  learning 
and  taste,  in  which  he  seeks  to  justify  the  Ars  Amatoria  by 
showing  that  it  is  no  worse  than  much  existing  literature  that 
is  received  with  general  approval.  The  case  is  the  same 
with  the  contents  of  the  three  remaining  books,  which  embrace 
several  narrative  poems  ^ ;  the  charge  of  monotony  must  accord- 
ingly be  abandoned,  and  we  cannot  refrain  from  the  suspicion 
that  those  who  make  it  have  read  but  superficially  the  poems 
criticised. 

Again,  it  is  urged  that  the  expression  of  the  poet's  sufferings  is 
too  unrestrained  ;  that  there  is  an  excess  of  dolorous  lamenta- 
tion which  betrays  a  want  of  manly  endurance.  This  criticism 
is  partially  true,  and  is  as  old  as  the  poet's  own  time.  For  in 
P.  iii.  9  he  shows  in  defence  of  the  Pontic  Epistles — and  the 
defence  is  as  applicable  to  the  Tristia— that  such  frequent 
lamentations  are  what  might  be  expected  in  dealing  with  so  sad 
a  subject  (P.  iii.  9.  35  ff.),  and  that  as  the  poems  are  addressed 
to  different  persons  the  same  sentiments  naturally  recur.  Would 
it  be  reasonable,  he  naively  remarks,  to  force  me  to  write  always 
to  the  same  person,  that  the  reader  may  not  be  offended  by  the 
recurrence  of  the  same  ideas  (P.  iii.  9.  41)  "i 

Nor  does  the  charge,  brought  by  Macaulay,  of  *  impatience  and 
pusillanimity  ^ ,'  in  enduring  suffering  appear  weil  founded.  One 
age  differs  from  another,  and  one  people  from  another,  in  no  respect 
more  than  in  this.  The  Greek  hero  or  soldier  might  weep  in  the 
face  of  danger,  but  he  was  none  the  less  brave.    The  Roman  exile, 


*  e.g.  iii.  9.  (on  the  origin  of  the  name  Tomi) ;  iii.  11  (the  story  cf 
Phalaris)  ;  iv.  2  (a  description  of  the  triumph  of  Tiberius)  ;  iv.  10 
(the  poet's  autobiography). 

*  Life  and  Letters  of  Lord  Macaulay,  i.  470. 


Ivi 


INTRODUCTION, 


whether  Cicero,  or  Ovid,  or  Seneca,  might  venture  to  express 
feelings  which  the  long  habit  of  self-restraint  has  taught  the 
modem  European  to  conceal,  but  it  may  well  be  doubted  whether 
the  virtue  of  patient  endurance  is  really  given  to  the  one  in  any 
greater  degree  than  it  was  to  the  other.  Macaulay  himself 
chafed  bitterly  under  what  he  chose  to  call  his  banishment*. 

Yet  the  circumstances  of  Ovid  gave  a  better  title  to  melancholy 
than  those  of  Macaulay.  Macaulay  went  to  India,  for  a 
limited  period,  with  an  established  reputation,  to  discharge 
important  legislative  duties.  Ovid  went  to  Tomi  as  an 
exile  who  might  scarcely  hope  for  return.  Ovid  had  fallen 
under  the  displeasure  of  the  Emperor,  the  absolute  master 
of  the  civilised  world.  And  into  this  state  of  misery  he  was 
plunged  from  the  most  fortunate  state.  A  happy  father  and 
a  happy  husband,  an  honoured  member  of  the  most  brilliant  lite- 
rary society  of  the  world,  enjoying  the  favour  of  many  of  Rome's 
greatest  nobles,  a  man  of  elegance  and  luxury,  personally  unac- 
customed to  hardship,  he  was  banished  suddenly  to  the  inhos- 
pitable and  barbaric  Tomi,  the  Siberia  of  the  ancient  world*. 

It  may  rather  be  urged  that  this  very  exuberance  and  sim- 
plicity of  feeling,  this  intense  subjectivity,  constitutes  one  of  the 
chief  excellences  of  these  poems  of  exile.  There  is  as  much  of 
sorrow  as  of  happiness  in  the  world ;  and  it  is  the  function  of  the 

*  Macaulay's  Life,  p.  423  :  *  I  have  no  words  to  tell  you  how  I  pine  for 
England,  or  how  intensely  bitter  exile  has  been  to  me,  though  I  hope 
that  I  have  borne  it  well.  I  feel  as  if  I  had  no  other  wish  than  to  see  my 
country  again,  and  die.  Let  me  assure  you  that  banishment  is  no  light 
matter.  No  person  can  judge  of  it  who  has  not  experienced  it.  A 
complete  revolution  in  all  the  habits  of  life ;  an  estrangement  from 
almost  eveiyold  friend  and  acquaintance  ;  fifteen  hundred  miles  of  ocean 
between  the  exile,  and  everything  that  he  cares  for  ;  all  this  is,  to  me  at 
least,  very  trying.  There  is  no  temptation  of  wealth,  or  power,  which 
would  induce  me  to  go  through  it  again.' 

*  My  father  has  pointed  out  to  me  the  curiously  analogous  case  of  the 
jDoet  Salman,  who  was  imprisoned  in  the  twelfth  century  by  the  Ghas- 
nivide  sovereigns,  Mas'ud  Ibrahim  and  Bahram  Shah,  and  whose 
poetry  presents  many  illustrative  analogies  to  that  of  Ovid.  See  Sir 
H.  Elliot's  History  of  India  as  told  by  its  own  historians,  iv.  p.  518  flf. 


LITERARY  VALUE   OF  THE   TRISTIA. 


Ivii 


poet  to  sing  of  the  sadder  aspects  of  human  life  as  well  as  the 

happier  * : 

•  Weep  not  over  poet's  wrong, 

mourn  not  his  mischances; 

sorrow  is  the  source  of  song, 

and  of  gentle  fancies  *.' 

It  is  to  this  feature  that  the  Tristia  and  Pontic  Epistles  owed 
the  wide  popularity  which  they  very  early  enjoyed.  It  has  been 
well  remarked  by  Dean  Merivale  :  *  In  the  course  of  time  the 
empire  teemed  with  a  society  of  fellow-sufferers,  who  learnt 
perhaps,  from  their  own  woes,  to  sympathize  with  the  lamenta- 
tions of  the  first  generation  of  exiles.  The  Tristia  of  Ovid 
became  the  common  expression  of  the  sentiments  of  a  whole 
class  of  unfortunates  '.' 

(2)  The  faults  of  form  m  the  Tristia  are  more  obvious,  and 
are  the  result  partly  of  the  poet's  acknowledged  dislike  of  correct- 
ing and  pruning  his  verses  *,  partly  of  his  rhetorical  training,  and 
partly  of  the  admiration,  which  he  in  common  with  many  writers 
of  the  day,  entertained  for  the  affected  school  of  Alexandrine 

poets  *. 

Ovid's  dislike  of  correcting  gives  rise  to  that  excessive  luxuri- 
ance of  similes  and  images  with  which  at  times  he  overloads  the 
subject  and  overburdens  the  reader  ^  and  which  led  Quintilian  to 
characterise  him  as  *  nimium  amator  ingenii  sui  '.'  His  rhetori- 
cal training  must  answer  for  his  great  addiction  to  declamation, 


'  Verg.  Aen.  i.  462  : 

'  sunt  lacrimae  renim,  et  mentem  mortalia  tangunt.* 
Keble  has  dwelt  largely  upon  this  aspect  of  poetry  in  his  Praelectiones 
Academicae,  the  subject  of  which  work  is  de  poeticae  vi  medica, 

'■*  James  Hedderwick. 

3  Merivale's  History  of  the  Romans  under  the  Empire,  iv.  607. 

*  P.  i.  5.  1 5  ;  iii.  9.  7  ff. 

*  The  Alexandrians  chiefly  imitated  by  Ovid  were,  Callimachus, 
Philetas  (T.  i.  6.  2,  v.  5.  33,  A.  A.  iii.  329),  and  Lycophron  (Ellis,  Ibis 
p.  xlii.)  ;  and  Antimachus  (T.i.  6.  1),  though  not  an  Alexandrine,  who 
Vras  another  of  his  models,  appears  to  have  laboured  under  similar  fauhs. 

«  Cp.  i.  5.  47,  Lors-  '  *•  ^^' 


Iviii 


INTRODUCTION, 


and  to  the  use  of  tropes  and  rhetorical  figures.  To  his  imitation 
of  the  Alexandrines  we  can  trace  the  occasional  affectation  of  his 
sentiments  and  ideas,  and  his  love  of  conceits  and  playing  upon 
words,  and  other  such  complications. 

But  when  all  these  defects  are  considered  and  allowed  for,  it 
must  be  admitted  that  they  are  greatly  counterbalanced  by  the 
merits  of  the  work.  And  it  would  be  surprising  if  this  were  not 
so.  For  in  spite  of  his  faults,  which  he  carries  on  the  surface, 
we  shall  not  be  far  wrong  in  judging  Ovid,  with  Niebuhr\  to  be 
'  of  all  the  Roman  poets  whose  works  have  come  down  to  us,  by 
far  the  most  poetical  after  Catullus.'  He  may  want  the  gravity 
and  variety  of  cadence  of  Vergil — but  he  has  to  a  greater  degree 
the  crowning  excellence  of  a  poet,  general  simplicity  and  directness 
of  expression.  He  may  want  the  finished  style  of  Horace,  but  he 
is  free  from  his  coldness  and  painful  elaboration.  His  thought  is 
as  clear  as  water ;  and  the  thought  instantly  clothes  itself  in  a 
suitable  poetic  form.  He  who  alone  of  his  contemporaries  has, 
as  far  as  we  know,  justly  appreciated  the  greatness  of '  the  majestic 
Lucretius^ ; '  was  too  able  a  critic  to  fail  to  observe  his  own 
supremacy  in  this  respect ;  T.  iv.  lo.  25  : 

'sponte  sua  carmen  numeros  veniebat  ad  aptos, 
et  quod  temptabam  scribere,  versus  erat.' 

The  ease  and  apparent  artlessness  of  his  numbers  have  sometimes 
created  an  impression  of  negligence  ;  and  this  opinion  is  unfor- 
tunately likely  to  attract  many  in  the  present  age,  when  it  seems 
to  be  the  fashion  to  value  poetry  more  highly  in  proportion  to  its 
obscurity,  and  to  confuse  simplicity  of  style  with  poverty  of 
thought.  The  study  of  the  works  of  Ovid  cannot  fail  to  serve  as 
a  potent  antidote  to  such  mistaken  notions,  for  in  him,  above  all 
other  poets,  is  exemplified  the  truth  of  the  maxim  that  the 
province  of  art  is  to  conceal  art. 

Nor  can  we  fail  to  admire  his  richness  of  imagination, 
which  manifests  itself  in  a  never-failing  variety  of  expres- 
sion, and  in  the  marvellous  wealth  of  his   similes ' ;    or  the 

*  Lectures,  iii.  139 ;  Bohn's  edition.  »  Am.  1.  15.  23. 

'  A  notable  instance  is  the  celebrated  address  of  Polyphemus  to 
Galatea,  M.  13.  788  ff.    See  T.  i.  i.  75  flf. ;  iv.  i.  5  ff. ;  6.  i  ff. 


TEXT  OF  THE   TRISTIA, 


lix 


easiness  of  his  versification,  which  has  caused  the  O  vidian  distich, 
rather  than  that  of  Tibullus  or  Propertius,  to  be  regarded  as  the 
standard  of  that  class  of  Latin  verse  composition.  Nor  must  it  be 
forgotten  that,  though  apparently  so  simple  and  straightforward, 
he  was  possessed  of  a  store  of  erudition  probably  as  great  as  any 
of  the  poets  of  Rome.  The  legendary  lore,  history,  and  literature 
of  Greece  and  Rome,  the  field  of  geography,  the  manners  and 
customs  of  different  nations,  the  phaenomena  of  nature, — all  are 
made  to  contribute  towards  the  adornment  of  his  verse.  Yet 
richly  stocked  as  was  the  poet's  mind,  he  is  never  encumbered 
with  his  learning;  he  wields  it  with  ease  and  elegance,  and  it 
adds  only  one  more  to  the  many  charms  of  his  poems  ^, 


VL 
On  the  Text  of  the  Tristia. 

The  criticism  of  the  text  of  Ovid  is  beset  with  great  difficulties ; 
for  while,  on  the  one  hand,  our  MSS.  are  for  the  most  part  not 
very  ancient,  on  the  other  hand  this  author  acquired  very  early 
such  wide  popularity  that  numberless  corrections  of  whatever 
seemed  obscure,  unusual,  or  corrupt  crept  very  early  into  the 
MS.  or  MSS.  from  which  our  existing  copies  directly  or  indirectly 
drew  their  origin.  Hence  the  editor  of  Ovid  must  search  for  a 
MS.  which  is  as  free  as  possible  from  such  corrections.  That 
MS.  will  be  one  which  to  an  inexperienced  reader  would  present 
the  appearance  of  great  corruption  ;  a  MS.  in  which  there  is 
such  an  abundance  of  mistakes  and  monstrosities  as  to  indicate 
that  the  scribe  either  of  this  MS.  or  of  that  from  which  it  was 

^  Contrast  e.g.  the  admirable  treatment  of  Roman  legends  in  Ovid's 
Fasti  with  the  meagreness  of  Tibullus,  ii.  5.  The  poems  of  Ovid's  exile 
inspired  that  curious  restoration  drama,  The  Tragedy  of  Ovid,  by  Sir 
Aston  Cokain. 


y 


Ix 


INTRODUCTION, 


copied,  was  fortunately  ignorant  of  Latin,  and  therefore  unable 
to  amend  the  text  according  to  his  own  conceptions  ;  but  was 
content  to  simply  transcribe,  often,  it  may  be,  incorrectly  enough, 
what  lay  before  him.  A  MS.  of  this  type  is  of  the  greatest 
possible  value,  and  is  called  an  uninterpolated  MS.  For  the 
errors  incidental  to  copying  may  be  reduced  to  certain  broad 
principles ;  an  acquaintance  with  which  frequently  enables  the 
critic  to  detect  the  cause  of  a  seemingly  unintelligible  reading, 
and  to  correct  it.  But  the  ingenious  perversities  of  the  educated 
scribe,  with  his  dangerously  slight  apparatus  of  learning,  and  his 
love  of  altering,  sometimes  in  order  to  excise  whatever  idioms  are 
to  him  unfamiliar,  sometimes  from  the  pure  love  of  alteration,  lead 
to  such  a  wide  departure  from  the  original  text  that  it  is  often  a 
fruitless  task  to  attempt  to  distinguish  from  such  data  the 
authentic  reading  ^ 

A  MS.  of  the  latter  type  is  called  an  interpolated  MS,  and 
most  of  the  MSS.  of  the  Tristia  belong  to  this  class.  It  is 
possible  to  arrange  MSS.  with  more  or  less  precision  under 
certain  groups,  classes,  or  families,  which  exhibit  such  affinities 
and  resemblances  as  to  prove  that  each  family  can  be  traced 
to  a  common  original  now  lost.  The  MSS.  of  the  Tristia 
can  be  broadly  distinguished  into  two  such  families,  one  of 
which  represents  the  uninterpolated,  the  other  the  interpolated 
tradition. 

Merkel  in  his  critical  edition,  and  all  preceding  editors,  regarded 
a  MS.  called  the  Palatinusl.  as  the  best,  and  based  the  text  on  the 
MSS.  of  that  family.  But  the  discovery  of  the  valuable  Florence 
MS.  L  has  established  that  the  Palatine  group  of  MSS.  is 
worthless  ;  and  the  text  now  depends  on  the  Florence  MS.  and 
those  that  are  akin  to  it.  The  errors  that  separate  L  from  Pal.  I. 
are  precisely  those   errors  of  mere  carelessness  or  ignorance 

*  A  few  examples  of  interpolation  from  Bk.  i.  may  be  not  uninstructive. 
In  i.  i8,  the  genuine  illi  is  supplanted  by  the  easier  exstat ;  i.  32,  miseris 
by  misero  ;  i.  1 24,  viae  by  morae  ;  ii.  1 5,  dicta  by  verba  ;  ii.  25,  murmure 
by  turbine;  ii.  41,  0  by  di ;  ii,  92,  volunt  by  vident ;  iii.  14,  et  by  ut 
(interpolated  from  1.  13) ;  iii.  2e^,  parvis  hyparvoj  iii.  58,  summa  by 
mulia. 


TEXT  OF  THE  TRISTIA. 


ki 


which  are  the  sign  of  a  good  MS.    Thus  we  find  mere  slips  of 
the  following  nature  : 

(a)  A  word  from  one  line  is  frequently  transferred  into  the 
next,  and  supplants  a  word  there.     (See  i.  6.  2.) 

(b)  Lines  are  accidentally  transposed,  e.g.  at  vii.  14,  the 
order  is    14,    17,    18,    19,    16,   15,  20,  etc. 

{c)  Words  (v.  37.  83)  or  whole  lines,  in  all  about  30  (see  i.  6. 
34  ;  viii.  33),  are  omitted. 

Besides  this,  numerous  passages  show  the  scribe  to  have  been 
ignorant  of  Latin. 

Unfortunately  the  MS.  is  imperfect. 

It  originally  consisted  of  two  folio  volumes,  in  the  opinion  of 
Mr.  Anziani,  bound  separately.  The  first  volume  contained  the 
Metamorphoses,  Nux,  and  Medicamina  Formae  ;  the  second, 
which  was  much  smaller,  the  Tristia.  At  some  period  the  MS. 
appears  to  have  suffered  extensive  mutilation ;  it  was  probably 
taken  out  of  its  binding,  and  suffered  from  the  exposure  so  much 
that  in  many  places  the  writing  became  almost  or  quite  illegible. 
And  worse  than  this,  many  whole  pages  were  torn  out.  Later, 
at  some  time  in  the  fifteenth  century,  an  endeavour  was  made  to 
rehabilitate  the  unfortunate  MS.  The  faint  writing  was  refreshed, 
numerous,  chiefly  worthless,  corrections  were  made  in  the  margin, 
and  the  lost  passages  were  copied  in  a  large  hand  totally  dif- 
ferent from  that  of  the  original  MS,  and  were  bound  into  the 
vacant  spaces.- 

These  supplied  later  portions  are  of  a  totally  different  family 
from  the  original  MS.  Their  authority  is  mainly  worthless, 
for  they  belong  to  the  interpolated  group. 

The  older  part  of  the  MS.  I  call  L,  the  recent  X.  Accordingly 
our  MS.  is  of  a  very  composite  character,  which,  omitting  the 
Metamorphoses,  Nux,  and  M.  F.,  is  exhibited  in  the  following 
table : 

fol.  56f-57».  T.  i.  I.  1-5.  10  X 

fol.  58'^-63\  T.  i.  5.  1 1 -iii.  7.  i  L 

(iii.  7.  2-iv.  I.  II  (in  all  398  lines)  which  occupied  two 
folios  are  entirely  lost). 


Ixii 


INTRODUCTION, 


fol.  64«'-65\  T.  iv.  i.  12-iv.  7.  5  L 

fol.  66'^-7o^.  T.  iv.  7.  6  to  the  end  X 

Thus  for  a  large  part  of  the  first  book,  for  part  of  the  third 
and  fourth,  and  the  whole  of  the  fifth,  the  best  MS.  L  unfor- 
tunately fails  us. 

It  is  therefore  necessary  to  supplement  L  by  other  MSS,  if 
possible,  of  the  same  class.  And  although  no  MS.  hitherto 
known  approaches  L  in  goodness,  a  few  may  be  found  which 
occupy  this  supplementary  position,  and  stand  in  their  reading 
and  characteristics  as  boldly  apart  from  the  vast  aggregate  of 
(interpolated)  MSS.  as  L  itself.  The  following  five  MSS.  conform 
to  these  conditions. 

A.  Marcianus  Poliiiani.  A  MS.  formerly  in  the  library  of 
San  Marco  at  Florence,  but  now  lost,  and  known  only  from 
a  careful  collation  of  it  executed  by  Politian  in  his  copy  of  the 
Parma  edition  of  1477,  and  now  preserved  in  the  Bodleian 
library  at  Oxford. 

G.  Guelferbytanus,  Gudianus  n.  192,  at  Wolfenbiittel,  a 
vellum  MS,  sec.  xiii.  The  original  text  has  been  corrected  at 
different  times  by  several  different  hands. 

H.  HolkhamicuSy  sec.  xiii. — A  vellum  MS.  at  Holkham 
Hall,  Norfolk,  the  property  of  the  Earl  of  Leicester. 

P.  Palatinus  910,  sec.  xv. — A  paper  MS.  now  in  the  Vatican 
library. 

V.  Vatzcanus,  n.  1606,  is  a  vellum  MS,  sec.  xiii,  written 
in  the  Gothic  character,  containing  the  Tristia  only.  There  are 
many  corrections  and  erasures  ;  besides  the  original  hand,  two 
correcting  hands,  each  of  the  same  age  as  the  original,  have 
operated  on  the  MS. 

These  five  MSS.  agree  pretty  generally  together  ;  though  G  and 
H  aredecidedly  the  most,  and  Pthe  least  trustworthy  of  this  family, 
which  as  a  whole  conforms  rather  to  the  tradition  of  L  than 
to  that  of  the  vast  company  of  the  inferior  MSS.  These  inferior 
MSS.  represent  one  or  more  recensions  of  the  text  later  and  more 
corrupted  than  that  preserved  by  the  class  to  which  L  and  its 
adherents  belong.  Their  evidence  may  generally  be  neglected  ; 
though  in  some  passages  where  the  family  of  L  fails  us  they  appear 


TEXT  OF  THE   TRISTIA. 


Ixiii 


to  present  the  genuine  reading.  Among  them  the  best  are  a  MS. 
at  Leiden  {Leidensis  177),  and  one  at  Gotha  {Gothanus  Mbr.  IL 
122),  both  sec.  xiii. 

A  few  words  must  be  added  with  regard  to  L,  which  is  a  folio 
vellum  MS.  of  the  eleventh  century,  and  formerly  belonged  to  the 
library  of  San  Marco  (hence  its  name,  Marcianus^  n.  223).  Some 
critics  date  it  as  early  as  the  tenth,  and  others  as  late  as  the  twelfth 
century,  but  both  Mr.  Anziani  and  Mr.  PaoH,  professor  of  Latin 
Palaeography  at  Florence,  who  kindly  favoured  me  with  their 
opinion  upon  it,  unite  in  assigning  it  to  the  eleventh  cen- 
tury. The  original  writing  is  that  of  the  same  scribe  through- 
out; the  differences  of  distinctness  and  form  in  the  letters  are 
not  due,  as  has  been  supposed  by  some,  to  the  co-operation  of 
two  different  hands,  which,  as  such  differences  often  occur  in  the 
same  line,  is  highly  improbable,  but  to  a  difference  of  ink  or  pen 
employed.  Three  correctors  have  worked  upon  the  MS  :  the 
first  is  a  hand  contemporary  with  the  original,  possibly  the 
same.    The  second  and  third  belong  to  a  later  age. 


TRISTIVM 


LIBER  PRIMVS. 


I. 

Parve — nee  invideo — sine  me,  liber,  ibis  in  urbem : 

ei  mihi,  quod  domino    on  licet  ire  tuo  ! 
vade,  sed  incultus,  qualem  decet  exulis  esse : 

infelix  habitum  temporis  huius  habe. 
nee  te  purpureo  velent  vaccinia  fuco  :  5 

non  est  conveniens  luctibus  ille  color : 
nee  titulus  minio,  nee  cedro  charta  notetur, 

Candida  nee  nigra  cornua  fronte  geras. 
felices  ornent  haec  instrumenta  libellos  : 

fortunae  memorem  te  decet  esse  meae.  10 

nee  fragili  geminae  poliantur  pumice  frontes, 

hirsutus  sparsis  ut  videare  comis. 
neve  liturarum  pudeat.     qui  viderit  illas, 

de  lacrimis  factas  sentiat  esse  meis. 
vade,  liber,  verbisque  meis  loca  grata  saluta:        15 

contingam  eerte  quo  licet  ilia  pede. 
si  quis,  ut  in  populo,  nostri  non  immemor  illi, 

si  quis,  qui,  quid  agam,  forte  requiret,  erit: 
vivere  me  dices,  salvum  tamen  esse  negabis : 

id  quoque,  quod  vivam,  munus  habere  dei.       20 

B 


2 


25 


30 


35 


OVIDl   TRISTIVM 

atque  ita  tu  tacitus— quaerenti  plura  legendum,— 

ne,  quae  non  opus  est,  forte  loquare,  cave, 
protinus  admonitus  repetet  mea  crimina  lector, 

et  peragar  populi  publicus  ore  reus, 
tu  cave  defendas,  quamvis  mordebere  dictis : 

causa  patrocinio  non  bona  maior  erit. 
invenies  aliquem,  qui  me  suspiret  ademptum, 

carmina  nee  siccis  perlegat  ista  genis, 
et  tacitus  secum,  ne  quis  malus  audiat,  optet, 

sit  mea  lenito  Caesare  poena  levis  : 
nos  quoque,  quisquis  erit,  ne  sit  miser  ille,  precamur, 

placatos  miseris  qui  volet  esse  deos. 
quaeque  volet,  rata  sint,  ablataque  principis  ira 

sedibus  in  patriis  det  mihi  posse  mori. 
ut  peragas  mandata,  liber,  culpabere  forsan 

ingeniique  minor  laude  ferere  mei. 
iudicis  officium  est  ut  res,  ita  tempora  rerum 

quaerere:  quaesito  tempore  tutus  eris. 
carmina  proveniunt  animo  deducta  sereno : 
hubila  sunt  subitis  tempora  nostra  malis. 
carmina  secessum  scribentis  et  otia  quaerunt : 
me  mare,  me  venti,  me  fera  iactat  hiemps. 
carminibus  metus  omnis  abesl :   ego  perditus  ensem 

haesurum  iugulo  iam  puto  iamque  meo. 
haec  quoque  quod  facio,  iudex  mirabitur  aequus  45 

scriptaque  cum  venia  qualiacumque  leget. 
da  mihi  Maeoniden,  et  tot  circumspice  casus  : 

ingenium  tantis  excidet  omne  malis. 
denique  securus  famae,  liber,  ire  memento, 

nee  tibi  sit  lecto  displicuisse  pudor. 
noQ  ita  se  praebet  nobis  fortuna  secundam, 
ut  tibi  sit  ratio  laudis  habenda  tuae. 


40 


50 


LIB.  I,  I.  a  I -84.  3 

donee  eram  sospes,  tituli  tangebar  amore 

quaerendique  mihi  nominis  ardor  erat. 
carmina  nunc  si  non  studiumque,  quod  offuit,  odi,    55 

sit  satis:   ingenio  sic  fuga  parta  meo. 
tu  tamen  i  pro  me,  tu,  cui  licet,  aspice  Romam  : 

di  facerent,  possem  nunc  meus  esse  liber  ! 
nee  te,  quod  venias  magnam  peregrinus  in  urbem, 

ignotum  populo  posse  venire  puta.  60 

ut  titulo  careas,  ipso  noscere  colore  : 

dissimulare  velis,  te  liquet  esse  meum. 
clam  tamen  intrato,  ne  te  mea  carmina  laedant : 

non  sunt  ut  quondam  plena  favoris  erant 
si  quis  erit,  qui  te,  quia  sis  meus,  esse  legendum      65 

non  putet,  e  gremio  reiciatque  suo,     • 
*  inspice  '  die  *  titulum.     non  sum  praeceptor  amoris; 

quas  meruit,  poenas  iam  dedit  illud  opus.' 
forsitan  exspectes,  an  in  alta  palatia  missum 

scandere  te  iubeam  Caesareamque  domum? 
ignoscant  augusta  mihi  loca  dique  locorum : 

venit  in  hoc  ilia  fulmen  ab  arce  caput, 
esse  quidem  memini  mitissima  sedibus  illis 

numina ;   sed  timeo  qui  nocuere,  deos. 
terretur  minimo  pennae  stridore  columba 

unguibus,  accipiter,  saucia  facta  tuis. 
nee  procul  a  stabulis  audet  discedere,  si  qua 

excussa  est  avidi  dentibus  agna  lupi 
vitaret  caelum  Phaethon,  si  viveret,  et  quos 

optarat  stulte,  tangere  noUet  equos. 
me  quoque,  quae  sensi,  fateor  lovis  arma  timere : 

me  reor  infesto,  cum  tonat,  igne  peti. 
quicumque  Argolica  de  classe  Capherea  fugit, 

semper  ab  Euboicis  vela  retorquet  aquis. 

B  2 


70 


75 


80 


OVIDI    TRTSTIVM 

et  mea  cumba  semel  vasta  percussa  procella         85 

ilium,  quo  laesa  est,  horret  adire  locum, 
ergo  cave,  liber,  et  timida  circumspice  mente  : 

ut  satis  a  media  sit  tibi  plebe  legi. 
dum  petit  infirmis  nimium  sublimia  pennis 

Icarus,  aequoreis  nomina  fecit  aquis.  90 

difficile  est  tamen  hinc,  remis  utaris  an  aura, 

dicere.     consilium  resque  locusque  dabunt. 
si  poteris  vacuo  tradi,  si  cuncta  videbis 

mitia,  si  vires  fregerit  ira  suas: 
si  quis  erit,  qui  te  dubitantem  et  adire  timentem        95 

tradat,  et  ante  tamen  pauca  loquatur,  adi. 
luce  bona  domincque  tuo  felicior  ipso 

pervenjas  illuc  et  mala  nostra  leves. 
namque  ea  vel  nemo,  vel  qui  mihi  vulnera  fecit 

solus  Achilleo  tollere  more  potest.  100 

tantum  ne  noceas,  dum  vis  prodesse,  videto. 

nam  spes  est  animi  nostra  timore  minor, 
quaeque  quiescebat,  ne  mota  resaeviat  ira, 

et  poenae  tu  sis  altera  causa,  cave, 
cum  tamen  in  nostrum  fueris  penetrale  receptus    105 

contigerisque  tuam,  scrinia  curva,  domum : 
aspicies  illic  positos  ex  ordine  fratres, 

quos  studium  cunctos  evigilavit  idem, 
cetera  turba  palam  titulos  ostendet  apertos, 

et  sua  detecta  nomina  fronte  geret.  no 

tres  procul  obscura  latitantes  parte  videbis, — 

hi  qui,  quod  nemo  nescit  amare  docent : 
hos  tu  vel  fugias  vel,  si  satis  oris  habebis, 

Oedipodas  facito  Telegonosque  voces, 
deque  tribus,  moneo,  si  qua  est  tibi  cura  parentis,   115 
ne  quemquam,  quamvis  ipse  docebit,  ames. 


LIB,  /,  i.  85 — ii.  18.  5 

sunt  quoque  mutatae,  ter  quinque  volumina,  formae, 

nuper  ab  exequiis  carmina  rapta  meis. 
his  mando  dicas  inter  mutata  referri 

fortunae  vultum  corpora  posse  meae.  120 

namque  ea  dissimilis  subito  est  effecta  priori, 

flendaque  nunc,  aliquo  tempore  laeta  fuit. 
plura  quidem  mandare  tibi,  si  quaeris,  habebam : 

sed  vereor  tardae  causa  fuisse  viae, 
et  si  quae  subeunt,  tecum,  liber,  omnia  ferres,    125 

sarcina  laturo  magna  futurus  eras, 
longa  via  est,  propera  !   nobis  habitabitur  orbis 

ultimus,  a  terra  terra  remota  mea. 

II. 

Di  maris  et  caeli— quid  enim  nisi  vota  supersunt?— 

solvere  quassatae  parcite  membra  ratis, 
neve,  precor,  magni  subscribite  Caesaris  irae! 

saepe  premente  deo  fert  deus  alter  opem. 
Mulciber  in  Troiam,  pro  Troia  stabat  Apollo:         5 

aequa  Venus  Teucris,  Pallas  iniqua  fuit. 
oderat  Aeneam  propior  Saturnia  Turno : 

ille  tamen  Veneris  numine  tutus  erat. 
saepe  ferox  cautum  petiit  Neptunus  Vlixem, 

eripuit  patruo  saepe  Minerva  suo.  10 

et  nobis  aliquod,  quamvis  distamus  ab  illis, 

quis  vetat  irato  numen  adesse  deo? 
verba  miser  frustra  non  proficientia  perdo. 

ipsa  graves  spargunt  ora  loquentis  aquae, 
terribilisque  notus  iactat  mea  dicta  precesque,        15 

ad  quos  mittuntur,  non  sinit  ire  deos. 
ergo  idem  venti,  ne  causa  laedar  in  una, 

velaque  nescio  quo  votaque  nostra  ferunt 


OVIDI   TRISTIVM 

me  misenim,  quanti  montes  volvuntur  aquarum ! 

iam  iam  tacturos  sidera  summa  putes.  20 

quantae  diducto  subsidunt  aequore  valles ! 

iam  iam  tacturas  Tartara  nigra  putes. 
quocumque  aspicio,  nihil  est,  nisi  pontus  et  aer, 

fluctibus  hie  tumidus,  nubibus  ille  minax. 
inter  utrumque  fremunt  inmani  murmure  venti :    25 

nescit,  cui  domino  pareat,  unda  maris, 
nam  modo  purpureo  vires  capit  eurus  ab  ortu, 

nunc  zephyrus  sero  vespere  missus  adest, 
nunc  sicca  gelidus  boreas  bacchatur  ab  arcto, 

nunc  notus  adversa  proeUa  fronte  gerit.  30 

rector  in  incerto  est  nee  quid  fugiatve  petatve 

invenit :   ambiguis  ars  stupet  ipsa  mahs. 
scihcet  occidimus,  nee  spes  est  ulla  salutis, 

dumque  loquor,  vultus  obruit  unda  meos. 
opprimet  banc  animam  fluctus,  frustraque  precanti   35 

ore  necaturas  accipiemus  aquiis. 
at  pia  nil  aliud  quam  me  dolet  exule  coniunx : 

hoc  unum  nostri  scitque  gemitque  mali. 
nescit  in  inmenso  iactari  corpora  ponto, 

nescit  agi  ventis,  nescit  adesse  necem.  40 

o  bene,  quod  non  sum  mecum  conscendere  passus, 

ne  mihi  mors  misero  bis  patienda  foret ! 
at  nunc  ut  peream,  quoniam  caret  ilia  periclo, 

dimidia  certe  parte  superstes  ero. 
ei  mihi,  quam  celeri  micuerunt  nubila  flamma !     45 

quantus  ab  aetherio  personal  axe  fragor! 
nee  levius  tabulae  laterum  feriuntur  ab  undis, 

quam  grave  ballistae  moenia  pulsat  onus, 
qui  venit  hie  fluctus,  fluctus  supereminet  omnes : 

posterior  nono  est  undecimoque  prior.  50 


I 


., 


55 


60 


65 


LIB.  /,  ii.  19-82. 

nee  letum  timeo :  genus  est  miserabile  leti. 

demite  naufragium,  mors  mihi  munus  erit. 
est  aliquid,  fatoque  suo  ferroque  cadentem 

in  solida  moriens  ponere  corpus  humo, 
et  mandare  suis  aliqua,  et  sperare  sepulcrum, 

et  non  aequoreis  piscibus  esse  cibum. 
fingite  me  dignum  tali  nece:   non  ego  solus 

hie  vehor.     inmeritos  cur  mea  poena  trahit? 
pro  superi  viridesque  dei,  quibus  aequora  curae, 

utraque  iam  vestras  sistite  turba  minas : 
quamque  dedit  vitam  mitissima  Caesaris  ira, 

banc  sinite  infelix  in  loca  iussa  feram. 
si  quoque,  quam  merui,  poena  me  perdere  vultis, 

culpa  mea  est  ipso  iudice  morte  minor, 
mittere  me  Stygias  si  iam  voluisset  in  undas 

Caesar,  in  hoc  vestra  non  eguisset  ope. 
est  illi  nostri  non  invidiosa  cruoris 

copia  :   quodque  dedit,  cum  volet,  ipse  feret. 
vos  modo,  quos  certe  nullo,  puto,  crimine  laesi, 

contenti  nostris  iam,  precor,  este  mahs ! 
nee  tamen,  ut  cuncti  miserum  servare  velitis, 

quod  periit,  salvum  iam  caput  esse  potest, 
ut  mare  considat  ventisque  ferentibus  utar, 

ut  mihi  parcatis,  non  minus  exul  ero. 
non  ego  divitias  avidus  sine  fine  parandi 

latum  mutandis  mercibus  aequor  aro: 
nee  peto,  quas  quondam  petii  studiosus,  Athenas, 

oppida  non  Asiae,  non  loca  visa  prius, 
non  ut  Alexandri  claram  delatus  ad  urbem 

delicias  videam,  Nile  iocose,  tuas.  80 

quod  faciles  opto  ventos,— quis  credere  possit? — 

Sarmatis  est  tellus,  quam  mea  vela  petunt. 


70 


75 


85 


OVIDI   TRISTIVM 

obligor,  ut  tangam  laevi  fera  litora  Ponti : 

quodque  sit  a  patria  tarn  fuga  tarda,  queror. 
nescio  quo  videam  positos  ut  in  orbe  Tomitas, 

exilem  facio  per  mea  vota  viam. 
seu  me  diligitis,  tantos  conpescite  fluctus, 

pronaque  sint  nostrae  numina  vestra  rati: 
seu  magis  odistis,  iussae  me  advertite  terrae: 

supplicii  pars  est  in  regione  mei. 
ferte— quid  hie  facio  ?—rapidi  mea  corpora  venti ! 

Ausonios  fines  cur  mea  vela  volunt? 
noluit  hoc  Caesar,     quid,  quem  fugat  ille,  tenetis? 

adspiciat  vultus  Pontica  terra  meos. 
et  iubet,  et  merui.     nee,  quae  damnaverit  ille, 

crimina  defendi  fasque  piumque  puto. 
si  tamen  acta  deos  numquam  mortalia  fallunt, 

a  culpa  facinus  scitis  abesse  mea. 
immo  ita  si  scitis,  si  me  meus  abstulit  error, 

stultaque  mens  nobis,  non  scelerata,  fuit: 
quod  licet  et  minimis,  domui  si  favimus  illi, 

si  satis  August!  publica  iussa  mihi : 
hoc  duce  si  dixi  felicia  saecula  proque 

Caesare  tura  piis  Caesaribusque  dedi : 
si  fuit  hie  animus  nobis,  ita  parcite  divi ! 

si  minus,  alta  cadens  obruat  unda  caput! 
fallor,  an  incipiunt  gravidae  vanescere  nubes, 

victaque  mutati  frangitur  unda  maris? 
non  casu !  vos  sed  sub  condicione  vocati, 

fallere  quos  non  est,  banc  mihi  fertis  opem 

III. 

Cum  subit  illius  tristissima  noctis  imago, 
qua  mihi  supremum  tempus  in  urbe   fuit, 


90 


95 


100 


105 


no 


10 


15 


LIB,  7,  ii.  83 — iii.  34» 

cum  repeto  noctem,  qua  tot  mihi  cara  reliqui, 

labitur  ex  oculis  nunc  quoque  gutta  meis. 
iam  prope  lux  aderat,  qua  me  discedere  Caesar 

finibus  extremae  iusserat  Ausoniae. 
nee  spatium  nee  mens  fuerat  satis  apta  parandi: 

torpuerant  longa  pectora  nostra  mora, 
non  mihi  servorum,  comites  non  cura  legendi, 

non  aptae  profugo  vestis  opisve  fuit. 
non  aliter  stupui,  quam  qui  lovis  ignibus  ictus 

vivit  et  est  vitae  nescius  ipse  suae, 
ut  tamen  banc  animi  nubem  dolor  ipse  removit, 

et  tandem  sensus  convaluere  mei, 
adloquor  extremum  maestos  abiturus  amicos, 

qui  modo  de  multis  unus  et  alter  erat. 
uxor  amans  flentem  flens  acrius  ipsa  tenebat, 

imbre  per  indignas  usque  cadente  genas. 
nata  procul  Libycis  aberat  diversa  sub  oris 

nee  poterat  fati  certior  esse  mei. 
quocumque  aspiceres,  luctus  gemitusque  sonabant 

formaque  non  taciti  funeris  intus  erat. 
femina  virque  meo,  pueri  quoque  funere  maerent : 

inque  domo  lacrimas  angulus  omnis  habet. 
si  licet  exemplis  in  parvis  grandibus  uti,  25 

haec  facies  Troiae,  cum  caperetur,  erat. 
iamque  quiescebant  voces  hominumque  canumque. 

Lunaque  nocturnos  alta  regebat  equos. 
banc  ego  suspiciens  et  ad  banc  Capitolia  cernens, 

quae  nostro  frustra  iuncta  fuere  lari,  3° 

*  numina  vicinis  habitantia  sedibus,'  inquam, 

*  iamque  oculis  numquam  templa  videnda  meis, 
dique  relinquendi,  quos  urbs  habet  alta  Quirini, 
este  salutati  tempus  in  omne  mihi! 


20 


lO 


OVIDI  TRISTIVM 


et  quamquam  sero  clipeum  post  vulnera  sumo,     35 

attamen  banc  odiis  exonerate  fugam 
caelestique  viro,  quis  me  deceperit  error, 

dicite,  pro  culpa  ne  scelus  esse  putet. 
ut,  quod  vos  scitis,  poenae  quoque  sentiat  auctor : 

placato  possum  non  miser  esse  deo.*  40 

hac  prece  adoravi  superos  ego :  pluribus  uxor, 

singultu  medios  impediente  sonos. 
ilia  etiam  ante  lares  passis  adstrata  capillis 

contigit  exstinctos  ore  tremente  focos, 
multaque  in  adversos  effudit  verba  penates  45 

pro  deplorato  non  valitura  viro. 
iamque  morae  spatium  nox  praecipitata  negabat, 

versaque  ab  axe  suo  Parrhasis  arctos  erat. 
quid  facerem?  blando  patriae  retinebar  amore: 

ultima  sed  iussae  nox  erat  ilia  fugae.  50 

a !  quotiens  aliquo  dixi  properante  '  quid  urges  ? 

vel  quo  festinas  ire  vel  unde,  vide ! ' 
a  !  quotiens  certam  me  sum  mentitus  habere 

horam,  propositae  quae  foret  apta  viae, 
ter  limen  tetigi,  ter  sum  revocatus,  et  ipse  55 

indulgens  animo  pes  mihi  tardus  erat. 
saepe  *vale'  dicto  rursus  sum  multa  locutus, 

et  quasi  discedens  oscula  summa  dedi. 
saepe  eadem  mandata  dedi  meque  ipse  fefelli 

respiciens  oculis  pignora  cara  meis.  60 

denique  *quid  proper©  ?  Scythia  est,  quo  mittimur,' 
inquam 

*Roma  relinquenda  est.   utraque  iusta  mora  est. 
uxor  in  aeternum  vivo  mihi  viva  negatur, 

et  domus  et  fidae  dulcia  membra  domus. 


LIB.  /,  iii.  35-9^- 


II 


70 


75 


80 


quosque  ego  dilexi  fraterno  more  sodales,  65 

o  mihi  Thesea  pectora  iuncta  fide! 
dum  licet,  amplectar:   numquam  fortasse  licebit 
amplius.   in  lucro  est  quae  datur  hora  mihi.' 
nee  mora,  sermonis  verba  inperfecta  relinquo, 
complectens  animo  proxima  quaeque  meo. 
dum  loquor  et  flemus,  caelo  nitidissimus  alto, 

Stella  gravis  nobis,  Lucifer  ortus  erat. 
dividor  baud  aliter,  quam  si  mea  membra  relinquam, 

et  pars  abrumpi  corpore  visa  suo  est. 
sic  doluit  Mettus  tunc,  cum  in  contraria  versos 

ultores  habuit  proditionis  equos. 
tum  vero  exoritur  clamor  gemitusque  meorum, 

et  feriunt  maestae  pectora  nuda  manus. 
tum  vero  coniunx  umeris  abeuntis  inhaerens 

miscuit  haec  lacrimis  tristia  verba  meis: 
'  non  potes  avelli.   simul  hinc,  simul  ibimus,'  inquit : 

*te  sequar  et  coniunx  exulis  exul  ero. 
et  mihi  facta  via  est,  et  me  capit  ultima  tellus : 

accedam  profugae  sarcina  parva  rati, 
te  iubet  e  patria  discedere  Caesaris  ira, 

me  pietas.     pietas  haec  mihi  Caesar  erit.' 
talia  temptabat,  sicut  temptaverat  ante, 

vixque  dedit  victas  utilitate  manus. 
egredior— sive  illud  erat  sine  funere  ferri — 

squalidus,  inmissis  hirta  per  ora  comis. 
ilia  dolore  amens  tenebris  narratur  obortis 

semianimis  media  procubuisse  domo: 
utque  resurrexit  foedatis  pulvere  turpi 

crinibus  et  gelida  membra  levavit  humo, 
se  modo,  desertos  modo  conplorasse  penates, 
nomen  et  erepti  saepe  vocasse  viri. 


85 


90 


95 


12 


OVIDI   TRISTIVM 


nec  gemuisse  minus,  quam  si  nataeque  virique 
vidisset  structos  corpus  habere  rogos, 

et  voluisse  mori,  moriendo  ponere  sensus, 

respectuque  tamen  non  periisse  mei.  loo 

vivat !  et  absentem — quoniam  sic  fata  tulerunt — 
vivat  ut  auxilio  sublevet  usque  suo. 

IV. 

Tingitur  oceano  custos  Erymanthidos  ursae, 

aequoreasque  suo  sidere  turbat  aquas, 
nos  tamen  Ionium  non  nostra  findimus  aequor 

sponte,  sed  audaces  cogimur  esse  metu. 
me  miserum !   quantis  increscunt  aequora  ventis,     5 

erutaque  ex  imis  fervet  harena  fretis. 
monte  nec  inferior  prorae  puppive  recurvae 

insilit  et  pictos  verberat  unda  deos. 
pinea  texta  sonant,  pulsi  stridore  rudentes, 

ingemit  et  nostris  ipsa  carina  malis.  10 

navita  confessus  gelidum  pallore  timorem 

iam  sequitur  victus,  non  regit  arte  ratem. 
utque  parum  validus  non  proficientia  rector 

cervicis  rigidae  frena  remittit  equo, 
sic  non  quo  voluit,  sed  quo  rapit  impetus  undae,    15 

aurigam  video  vela  dedisse  rati, 
quod  nisi  mutatas  emiserit  Aeolus  auras, 

in  loca  iam  nobis  non  adeunda  ferar. 
nam  procul  Illyriis  laeva  de  parte  relictis 

interdicta  mihi  cernitur  Italia.  20 

desinat  in  vetitas  quaeso  contendere  terras, 

et  mecum  magno  pareat  aura  deo. 
dum  loquor,  et  timeo  pariter  cupioque  repelli, 

increpuit  quantis  viribus  unda  latus ! 


LIB.  /,  iii.  97— V.  a6. 

parcite  caerulei,  vos  parcite,  numina  ponti, 
infestumque  mihi  sit  satis  esse  lovem. 

vos  animam  saevae  fessam  subducite  morti, 
si  modo,  qui  periit,  non  periisse  potest. 

V. 

O  mihi  post  uUos  numquam  memoranda  sodales, 

et  cui  praecipue  sors  mea  visa  sua  est! 
attonitum  qui  me,  memini,  carissime,  primus 

ausus  es  alloquio  sustinuisse  tuo, 
qui  mihi  consilium  vivendi  mite  dedisti, 

cum  foret  in  misero  pectore  mortis  amor, 
scis  bene,  cui  dicam,  positis  pro  nomine  signis, 

officium  nec  te  fallit,  amice,  tuum. 
haec  mihi  semper  erunt  imis  infixa  meduUis, 

perpetuusque  animae  debitor  huius  ero: 
spiritus  et  vacuas  prius  hie  tenuandus  in  auras 

ibit  et  in  tepido  deseret  ossa  rogo, 
quam  subeant  animo  meritorum  oblivia  nostro, 

et  longa  pietas  excidat  ista  die. 
di  tibi  sint  faciles,  tibi  di  nullius*  egentem 
fortunam  praestent  dissimilemque  meae. 
si  tamen  haec  navis  vento  ferretur  amico, 

ignoraretur  forsitan  ista  fides. 
Thesea  Pirithous  non  tam  sensisset  amicum, 

si  non  infernas  vivus  adisset  aquas, 
ut  foret  exemplum  veri  Phoceus  amoris, 

fecerunt  furiae,  tristis  Oresta,  tuae. 
si  non  Euryalus  Rutulos  cecidisset  in  hostes, 

Hyrtacidae  Nisi  gloria  nulla  foret. 
scilicet  ut  flavum  spectatur  in  ignibus  aurum, 
tempore  sic  duro  est  inspicienda  fides. 


^3 
25 


5 


10 


15 


20 


25 


14 


OVIDI  TRISTIVM 


dum  iuvat  et  vultu  ridet  Fortuna  sereno, 

indelibatas  cuncta  secuntur  opes : 
at  simul  intonuit,  fugiunt,  nee  noscitur  ulli, 

agminibus  comitum  qui  modo  cinctus  erat.        30 
atque  haec,  exemplis  quondam  collecta  priorum, 

nunc  mihi  sunt  propriis  cognita  vera  malis. 
vix  duo  tresve  mihi  de  tot  superestis  amici: 

cetera  Fortunae,  non  mea  turba  fuit. 
quo  magis,  o  pauci,  rebus  succurrite  laesis,  35 

et  date  naufragio  litora  tuta  meo. 
neve  metu  falso  nimium  trepidate,  timentes, 

hac  offendatur  ne  pietate  deus. 
saepe  fidem  adversis  etiam  laudavit  in  armis, 

inque  suis  amat  banc  Caesar,  in  hoste  probat.  40 
causa  mea  est  melior,  qui  non  contraria  fovi 

arma,  sed  banc  merui  simplicitate  fugam. 
invigiles  igitur  nostris  pro  casibus,  oro, 

deminui  si  qua  numinis  ira  potest 
scire  meos  casus  si  quis  desiderat  omnes,  45 

plus,  quam  quod  fieri  res  sinit,  ille  petit. 
tot  mala  sum  passus,  quot  in  aethere  sidera  lucent, 

parvaque  quot  siccus  corpora  pulvis  habet : 
multaque  credibili  tulimus  maiora  ratamque, 

quamvis  acciderint,  non  habitura  fidem.  50 

pars  etiam  quaedam  mecum  moriatur  oportet, 

meque  velim  possit  dissimulante  tegi. 
si  vox  infi-agilis,  pectus  mihi  firmius  aere, 

pluraque  cum  linguis  pluribus  ora  forent: 
non  tamen  idcirco  complecterer  omnia  verbis,       55 

materia  vires  exsuperante  meas. 
pro  duce  Neritio  docti  mala  nostra  poetae 

scribite:   Neritio  nam  mala  plura  tuli. 


LIB,  /,  V.  27— VI.  4. 


15 


60 


65 


70 


ille  brevi  spatio  multis  erravit  in  annis 

inter  DuUchias  Iliacasque  domos: 
nos  freta  sideribus  totis  distantia  mensos 

sors  tulit  in  Geticos  Sarmaticosque  sinus, 
ille  habuit  fidamque  manum  sociosque  fideles: 

me  profugum  comites  deseruere  mei. 
ille  suam  laetus  patriam  victorque  petebat: 

a  patria  fugi  victus  et  exul  ego. 
nee  mihi  Dulichium  domus  est  Ithaceve  Samosve, 

poena  quibus  non  est  grandis  abesse  locis : 
sed  quae  de  septem  totum  circumspicit  orbem 

montibus,  inperii  Roma  deumque  locus, 
illi  corpus  erat  durum  patiensque  laborum: 

invalidae  vires  ingenuaeque  mihi. 
ille  erat  adsidue  saevis  agitatus  in  armis: 

adsuetus  studiis  moUibus  ipse  fui. 
me  deus  oppressit,  nuUo  mala  nostra  levante: 

bellatrix  illi  diva  ferebat  opem. 
cumque  minor  love  sit  tumidis  qui  regnat  in  undis, 

ilium  Neptuni,  me  lovis  ira  premit. 
adde,  quod  illius  pars  maxima  ficta  laborum, 

ponitur  in  nostris  fabula  nulla  malis. 
denique  quaesitos  tetigit  tamen  ille  penates, 

quaeque  diu  petiit,  contigit  arva  tamen : 
at  mihi  perpetuo  patria  tellure  carendum, 
ni  fuerit  laesi  moUior  ira  dei. 

VI. 

Nee  tantum  Clario  est  Lyde  dilecta  poetae, 
nee  tantum  Coo  Bittis  amata  suo  est, 

pectoribus  quantum  tu  nostris,  uxor,  inhaeres^ 
digna  minus  misero,  non  meliore  viro. 


75 


80 


i6 


OVIDI  TRISTIVM 


lo 


15 


20 


te  mea  supposita  veluti  trabe  fulta  ruina  est : 

si  quid  adhuc  ego  sum,  muneris  omne  tui  est, 
tu  facis,  ut  spolium  non  sim,  nee  nuder  ab  illis, 

naufragii  tabulas  qui  petiere  mei. 
utque  rapax  stimulante  fame  cupidusque  cruoris 

incustoditum  captat  ovile  lupus, 
aut  ut  edax  vultur  corpus  circumspicit  ecquod 

sub  nulla  positum  cernere  possit  humo, 
sic  mea  nescio  quis,  rebus  male  fidus  acerbis, 

in  bona  venturus,  si  paterere,  fuit. 
hunc  tua  per  fortis  virtus  summovit  amicos 

nulla  quibus  reddi  gratia  digna  potest. 
ergo  quam  misero,  tarn  vero  teste  probaris, 

hie  aliquod  pondus  si  modo  testis  habet. 
nee  probitate  tua  prior  est  aut  Hectoris  uxor 

aut  comes  exstincto  Laudamia  viro. 
tu  si  Maeonium  vatem  sortita  fuisses, 

Penelopes  esset  fama  secunda  tuae: 
sive  tibi  hoc  debes,  nuUi  pia  facta  magistro, 

cumque  nova  mores  sunt  tibi  luce  dati, 
femina  seu  princeps  omnes  tibi  culta  per  annos 

te  docet  exemplum  coniugis  esse  bonae, 
adsimilemque  sui  longa  adsuetudine  fecit, 

grandia  si  parvis  adsimilare  licet, 
ei  mihi,  non  magnas  quod  habent  mea  carmina  vires, 

nostraque  sunt  meritis  ora  minora  tuis !  30 

si  quid  et  in  nobis  vivi  fuit  ante  vigoris 

exstinctum  longis  occidit  omne  malis. 
prima  locum  sanctas  heroidas  inter  haberes, 

prima  bonis  animi  conspicerere  tui; 
quantumcumque  tamen  praeconia  nostra  valebunt,  35 

carminibus  vives  tempus  in  omne  meis. 


25 


LIB,  7,  VI.  5 — vii.  30. 


17 


10 


VII. 

*Si  quis  habes  nostris  similes  in  imagine  vultus, 

deme  meis  hederas,  Bacchia  serta,  comis. 
ista  decent  laetos  felicia  signa  poetas: 

temporibus  non  est  apta  corona  meis.* 
hoc  tibi  dissimula,  senti  tamen,  optime,  dici, 

in  digito  qui  me  fersque  refersque  tuo, 
effigiemque  meam  fulvo  complexus  in  auro 

cara  relegati,  quae  potes,  ora  vides. 
quae  quotiens  spectas,  subeat  tibi  dicere  forsan 

*quam  procul  a  nobis  Naso  sodalis  abest!' 
grata  tua  est  pietas :   sed  carmina  maior  imago 

sunt  mea,  quae  mando  qualiacumque  legas, 
carmina  mutatas  hominum  dicentia  formas, 

infelix  domini  quod  fuga  rupit  opus, 
haec  ego  discedens,  sicut  bene  multa  meorum, 

ipse  mea  posui  maestus  in  igne  manu. 
utque  cremasse  suum  fertur  sub  stipite  natum 

Thestias  et  melior  matre  fuisse  soror, 
sic  ego  non  meritos  mecum  peritura  libellos 

inposui  rapidis  viscera  nostra  rogis : 
vel  quod  eram  musas,  ut  crimina  nostra,  perosus, 

vel  quod  adhuc  crescens  et  rude  carmen  erat. 
quae  quoniam  non  sunt  penitus  sublata,  sed  exstant, 

pluribus  exemplis  scripta  fuisse  reor, — 
nunc  precor,  ut  vivant  et  non  ignava  legentem 

otia  delectent  admoneantque  mei. 
nee  tamen  ilia  legi  poterunt  patienter  ab  uUo, 

nesciet  his  summam  si  quis  abesse  manum. 
ablatum  mediis  opus  est  incudibus .  illud, 

defuit  et  scriptis  ultima  lima  meis.  30 


15 


20 


25 


i8 


OVIDl  TRISTIVM 


et  veniam  pro  laude  peto,  laudatus  abunde, 

non  fastiditus  si  tibi,  lector,  ero. 
hos  quoque  sex  versus,  in  primi  fronte  libelli 

si  praeponendos  esse  putabis,  habe: 
*orba  parente  suo  quicumque  volumina  tangis,      35 

his  saltern  vestra  (Jetur  in  urbe  locus! 
quoque  magis  faveas,  haec  non  sunt  edita  ab  ipso, 

sed  quasi  de  domini  funere  rapta  sui. 
quicquid  in  his  igitur  vitii  rude  carmen  habebit, 

emendaturus,  si  hcuisset,  eram.'  40 

VIII. 
In  caput  alta  suum  labentur  ab  aequore  retro 

flumina,  conversis  Solque  recurret  equis: 
terra  feret  Stellas,  caelum  findetur  aratro, 

unda  dabit  flammas,  et  dabit  ignis  aquas : 
omnia  naturae  praepostera  legibus  ibunt,  5 

parsque  suum  mundi  nulla  tenebit  iter: 
omnia  iam  fient,  fieri  quae  posse  negabant, 

et  nihil  est,  de  quo  non  sit  habenda  fides 
haec  ego  vaticinor,  quia  sum  deceptus  ab  illo, 

laturum  misero  quem  mihi  rebar  opem. 
tantane  te,  fallax,  cepere  oblivia  nostri, 

adflictumque  fuit  tantus  adire  timor, 
ut  neque  respiceres  nee  solarere  iacentem, 

dure,  neque  exequias  prosequerere  meas? 
illud  amicitiae  sanctum  et  venerabile  nomen 

re  tibi  pro  vili  est  sub  pedibusque  iacet? 
quid  ftiit,  ingenti  prostratum  mole  sodalem 

visere  et  alloquio  parte  levare  tuo, 
inque  meos  si  non  lacrimam  demittere  casus, 

pauca  tamen  ficto  verba  dolore  pati, 


10 


15 


20 


LIB,  7,  vii.  31 — viii.  50. 


^9 


idque,  quod  ignoti  faciunt,  vel  dicere  saltern, 

et  vocem  populi  publicaque  ora  sequi  ? 
denique  lugubres  vultus  numquamque  videndos 

cernere  supremo  dum  licuitque  die, 
dicendumque  semel  toto  non  amplius  aevo  25 

accipere  et  parili  reddere  voce  *vale'? 
at  fecere  alii  nullo  mihi  foedere  iuncti, 

et  lacrimas  animi  signa  dedere  sui. 
quid,  nisi  convictu  causisque  valentibus  essem 

temporis  et  longi  iunctus  amore  tibi  ?  30 

quid,  nisi  tot  lusus  et  tot  mea  seria  nosses, 

tot  nossem  lusus  seriaque  ipse  tua? 
quid,  si  duntaxat  Romae  mihi  cognitus  esses, 

adscitus  totiens  in  genus  omne  loci  ? 
cunctane  in  aequoreos  abierunt  inrita  ventos  ?       35 

cunctane  Lethaeis  mersa  feruntur  aquis? 
non  ego  te  genitum  placida  reor  urbe  Quirini, 

urbe  mea,  quae  iam  non  adeunda  mihi, 
sed  scopulis,  Ponti  quos  haec  habet  ora  sinistri, 

inque  feris  Scythiae  Sarmaticisque  iugis :  40 

et  tua  sunt  silicis  circum  praecordia  venae, 

et  rigidum  ferri  semina  pectus  habet : 
quaeque  tibi  quondam  tenero  ducenda  palato 

plena  dedit  nutrix  ubera,  tigris  erat: 
aut  mala  nostra  minus  quam  nunc  ahena  putares,     45 

duritiaeque  mihi  non  agerere  reus, 
sed  quoniam  accedit  fatalibus  hoc  quoque  damnis, 

ut  careant  numeris  tempora  prima  suis, 
effice,  peccati  ne  sim  memor  huius,  et  illo 

officium  laudem,  quo  queror,  ore  tuum.  50 


!■ 


c  2 


20 


OVIDI  TRISTIVM 


IX. 


lO 


Detur  inoffenso  vitae  tibi  tangere  metam, 

qui  legis  hoc  nobis  non  inimicus  opus, 
atque  utinam  pro  te  possent  mea  vota  valere, 

quae  pro  me  duros  non  tetigere  deos ! 
donee  eris  sospes,  multos  numerabis  amicos  : 

tempora  si  fuerint  nubila,  solus  eris. 
aspicis,  ut  veniant  ad  Candida  tecta  columbae, 

accipiat  nullas  sordida  turris  aves? 
horrea  formicae  tendunt  ad  inania  numquam: 

nullus  ad  amissas  ibit  amicus  opes, 
utque  comes  radios  per  solis  euntibus  umbra  est, 

cum  latet  hie  pressus  nubibus,  ilia  fugit : 
mobile  sic  sequitur  fortunae  lumina  vulgus, 

quae  simul  inducta  nocte  teguntur,  abit. 
haec  precor,  ut  semper  possint  tibi  falsa  videri :    1 5 

sunt  tamen  eventu  vera  fatenda  meo. 
dum  stetimus,  turbae  quantum  satis  esset,  habebat 

nota  quidem,  sed  non  ambitiosa  domus. 
at  simul  inpulsa  est,  omnes  timuere  ruinam, 

cautaque  communi  terga  dedere  fugae.  20 

saeva  neque  admiror  metuunt  si  fulmina,  quorum 

ignibus  adflari  proxima  quaeque  solent. 
sed  tamen  in  duris  remanentem  rebus  amicum 

quamlibet  inviso  Caesar  in  hoste  probat, 
nee  solet  irasci, — neque  enim  moderatior  alter —  25 

cum  quis  in  adversis,  si  quid  amavit,  amat. 
de  comite  Argolici  postquam  cognovit  Orestis, 

narratur  Pyladen  ipse  probasse  Thoas. 
quae  fuit  Actoridae  cum  magno  semper  Achille, 

laudari  solita  est  Hectoris  ore  fides.  30 


LIB.  7,  IX.  1-62. 


21 


quod  pius  ad  manes  Theseus  comes  iret  amico, 

Tartareum  dicunt  indoluisse  deum. 
Euryali  Nisique  fide  tibi,  Turne,  relata 

credibile  est  lacrimis  inmaduisse  genas. 
est  etiam  miseris  pietas,  et  in  hoste  probatur  :       35 

ei  mihi,  quam  paucos  haec  mea  dicta  movent ! 
is  status,  haec  rerum  nunc  est  fortuna  mearum, 

debeat  ut  lacrimis  nullus  adesse  modus, 
at  mea  sunt,  proprio  quamvis  maestissima  casu, 

pectora  processu  facta  serena  tuo.  40 

hoc  ego  venturum  iam  tunc,  carissime,  vidi, 

ferret  adhuc  ista  cum  minus  aura  ratem. 
sive  aliquod  morum,  seu  vitae  labe  carentis 

est  pretium,  nemo  pluris  emendus  erat : 
sive  per  ingenuas  aliquis  caput  extulit  artes,  45 

quaelibet  eloquio  fit  bona  causa  tuo. 
his  ego  conmotus  dixi  tibi  protinus  ipsi 

*scaena  manet  dotes  grandis,  amice,  tuas.* 
haec  mihi  non  ovium  fibrae  tonitrusve  sinistri, 

linguave  servatae  pennave  dixit  avis :  50 

augurium  ratio  est  et  coniectura  futuri : 

hac  divinavi  notitiamque  tuli. 
quae  quoniam  vera  est,  tota  tibi  mente  mihique 

gratulor,  ingenium  non  latuisse  tuum. 
at  nostrum  tenebris  utinam  latuisset  in  imis  !         55 

expediit  studio  lumen  abesse  meo. 
utque  tibi  prosunt  artes,  facunde,  severae, 

dissimiles  illis  sic  nocuere  mihi. 
vita  tamen  tibi  nota  mea  est.     scis  artibus  illis 

auctoris  mores  abstinuisse  sui :  60 

scis  vetus  hoc  iuveni  lusum  mihi  carmen,  et  istos, 

ut  non  laudandos,  sic  tamen  esse  iocos. 


22 


OVIDI   TRISTIVM 


ergo  ut  defend!  nullo  mea  posse  colore, 

sic  excusari  crimina  posse  puto. 
qua  potes,  excusa  nee  amici  desere  causam  !         65 

quo  bene  coepisti,  sic  bene  semper  eas. 

X. 

Est  mihi  sitque,  precor,  flavae  tutela  Minervae 

navis  et  a  picta  casside  nomen  habet. 
sive  opus  est  velis,  minimam  bene  currit  ad  auram, 

sive  opus  est  remo,  remige  carpit  iter, 
nee  comites  volucri  contenta  est  vincere  cursu,        5 

occupat  egressas  quamlibet  ante  rates, 
et  pariter  fluctus  ferit  atque  silentia  longe 

aequora,  nee  saevis  victa  madescit  aquis. 
ilia,  Corinthiacis  primum  mihi  cognita  Cenchreis, 

fida  manet  trepidae  duxque  comesque  fugae,      10 
perque  tot  eventus  et  iniquis  concita  ventis 

aequora  Palladio  numine  tuta  fuit. 
nunc  quoque  tuta,  precor,  vasti  secet  ostia  Ponti, 

quasque  petit,  Getici  litoris  intret  aquas, 
quae  simul  Aeoliae  mare  me  deduxit  in  Helles,    15 

et  longum  tenui  limite  fecit  iter, 
fleximus  in  laevum  cursus,  et  ab  Hectoris  urbe 

venimus  ad  portus,  Imbria  terra,  tuos. 
inde  levi  vento  Zerynthia  litora  nacta 

Threiciam  tetigit  fessa  carina  Samon :  20 

saltus  ab  hac  contra  brevis  est  Tempyra  petenti : 

hac  dominum  tenus  est  ilia  secuta  suum. 
nam  mihi  Bistonios  placuit  pede  carpere  campos: 
'    Hellespontiacas  ilia  relegit  aquas, 
Dardaniamque  petit  auctoris  nomen  habentem,      25 

et  te  ruricola,  Lampsace,  tuta  deo, 


LIB.  /,  ix.  6^ — xi.  6. 


23 


30 


40 


quodque  per  angustas  vectae  male  virginis  undas 

Seston  Abydena  separat  urbe  fretum, 
inque  Propontiacis  haerentem  Cyzicon  oris, 
Cyzicon,  Haemoniae  nobile  gentis  opus, 
quaeque  tenent  Ponti  Byzantia  litora  fauces : 

hie  locus  est  gemini  ianua  vasta  maris, 
haec,  precor,  evincat,  propulsaque  fortibus  austris 

transeat  instabilis  strenua  Cyaneas 
Thyniacosque  sinus,  et  ab  his  per  Apollinis  urbem   35 

arta  sub  Anchiali  moenia  tendat  iter, 
inde  Mesembriacos  portus  et  Odeson  et  arces 

praetereat  dictas  nomine,  Bacche,  tuo, 
et  quos  Alcathoi  memorant  e  moenibus  ortos 

sedibus  his  profugos  constituisse  larem. 
a  quibus  adveniat  Miletida  sospes  ad  urbem, 

offensi  quo  me  detulit  ira  dei. 
haec  si  contigerint,  meritae  cadet  agna  Minervae: 

non  facit  ad  nostras  hostia  maior  opes. 
vosquoque,Tyndaridae,quos  haeccolit  insula,  fratres,  45 

mite,  precor,  duplici  numen  adesse  viae, 
altera  namque  parat  Symplegadas  ire  per  artas, 

scindere  Bistonias  altera  puppis  aquas. 
vos  facite,  ut  ventos,  loca  cum  diversa  petamus, 
ilia  suos  habeat,  nee  minus  ilia  suos.  50 

XI. 

Littera  quaecumque  est  toto  tibi  lecta  libello, 
est  mihi  sollicito  tempore  facta  viae. 

aut  hanc  me,  gelido  tremerem  cum  mense  decembri, 
scribentem  mediis  Hadria  vidit  aquis : 

aut,  postquam  bimarem  cursu  superavimus  Isthmon,  5 
alteraque  est  nostrae  sumpta  carina  fugae. 


24 


OVIDI   TRISTIVM 


quod  facerem  versus  inter  fera  murmura  ponti, 

Cycladas  Aegaeas  obstipuisse  puto. 
ipse  ego  nunc  miror  tantis  animique  marisque 

fluctibus  ingenium  non  cecidisse  meum.  lo 

seu  stupor  huic  studio  sive  est  insania  nomen, 

omnis  ab  hac  cura  mens  relevata  mea  est. 
saepe  ego  nimbosis  dubius  iactabar  ab  Haedis, 

saepe  minax  Steropes  sidere  pontus  erat, 
fuscabatque  diem  custos  Atlantidos  ursae,  15 

aut  Hyadas  seris  hauserat  auster  aquis  : 
saepe  maris  pars  intus  erat :   tamen  ipse  trementi 

carmina  ducebam  qualiacumque  manu. 
nunc  quoque  contenti  stridunt  aquilone  rudentes, 

inque  modum  tumuli  concava  surgit  aqua.         20 
ipse  gubernator  tollens  ad  sidera  palmas 

exposcit  votis,  inmemor  artis,  opem. 
quocumque  aspexi,  nihil  est  nisi  mortis  imago, 

quam  dubia  timeo  mente,  timensque  precor. 
attigero  portum,  portu  terrebor  ab  ipso  :  25 

plus  habet  infesta  terra  timoris  aqua. 
nam  simul  insidiis  hominum  pelagique  laboro, 

at  faciunt  geminos  ensis  et  unda  metus. 
ille  meo  vereor  ne  speret  sanguine  praedam, 

haec  titulum  nostrae  mortis  habere  velit.  30 

barbara  pars  laeva  est  avidaeque  adsueta  rapinae, 

quam  cruor  et  caedes  bellaque  semper  habent : 
cumque  sit  hibernis  agitatum  fluctibus  aequor, 

pectora  sunt  ipso  turbidiora  mari. 
quo  magis  his  debes  ignoscere,  candide  lector,      35 

si  spe  sunt,  ut  sunt,  inferiora  tua. 
non  haec  in  nostris,  ut  quondam,  scripsimus  hortis, 

nee,  consuete,  meum,  lectule,  corpus  habes : 


LIB.  7,  xi.  7-44- 


25 


iactor  in  indomito  brumali  luce  profundo, 

ipsaque  caeruleis  charta  feritur  aquis.  40 

improba  pugnat  hiemps  indignaturque,  quod  ausim 
scribere  se  rigidas  incutiente  minas. 

vincat  hiemps  hominem  !  sed  eodem  tempore,  quaeso, 
ipse  modum  statuam  carminis,  ilia  sui. 


. 


NOTES. 


In  the  Notes  the  following  abbreviations  are  used : 
R.  —  Roby's  Latin  Grammar  for  Schools. 

R.  L.  Gr.  =  Roby's  Grammar  of  the  Latin  Language  from  Plautus 
to  Suetonius.    (These  two  grammars  are  referred  to  by  the 

sections.) 
Rich  =  Rich's  Dictionary  of  Roman  and  Greek  Antiquities.  Fifth 

Edition. 
L.  and  S.  =  Lewis  and  Short's  Latin  Dictionary. 


El.  I. 

This  poem,  and  El.  xi,  were  written  after  the  greater  part  of  Book  I. 
was  completed,  the  one  as  an  introduction,  the  other  as  an  epilogue,  to 
Book  I.  From  1. 42,  part,  at  any  rate,  of  the  poem  would  seem  to  have 
been  written  at  sea;  and  from  1. 128  (see on  126), the  poet  would  seem  to 
have  put  the  finishing  stroke  to  it,  and  despatched  it  on  his  arrival  at 
Tomi  (Graeber,  Q.  O.  i.  vi).  Hence  it  is  reasonable  to  infer  that  the 
greater  part  of  it  was  written  during  his  voyage  from  Samothrace  to 
Thrace,  and  the  conclusion  added  on  his  arrival  at  Tomi;  whence  the 
book  was  probably  sent  to  Rome  by  the  ship  which  brought  him  to 
Samothracci  and  carried  his  effects  thence  to  Tomi  (see  intr.  to  El.  x). 

Summary.— Go,  little  book,  with  my  message,  of  salutation  to 
Rome,  but  go  in  sorry  binding,  as  befits  the  volume  of  a  poor  exile 
(I -1 4).  Salute  that  happy  place  for  me,  and  say  that,  though  sick 
at  heart,  I  am  still  alive ;  but  attempt  not  the  hopeless  task  of  my 
defence  (15-26).  Perhaps  one  may  be  found  who  is  sad  with  sympathy 
for  me;  if  so,  I  wish  him  well.  And  if  any  find  fault  with  thee 
as  being  of  inferior  workmanship,  let  him  not  criticise  too  severely, 
for  my  sufferings  and  anxiety  are  such  as  to  impede  the  free  flow  of 
inspiration.  Even  Homer  himself,  were  he  in  such  an  evil  plight  as 
mine,  would  lose  the  power  of  song  (27-48).  Yet  heed  not  popularity, 
I  loved  it  once,  but  now  it  is  enough  that  I  do  not  hate  the  power  of 
verse  that  has  proved  my  ruin  (49-56).  Go  thou  to  Rome  in  my  stead ; 
since  that  is  not  forbidden :  all  will  at  once  recognise  thy  master's  hand 


28 


OVIDI   TRISTIA. 


(57-68).  I  hardly  dare  bid  thee  seek  to  gain  entrance  to  the  Emperor's 
self;  I  who  by  my  fault  have  provoked  him  am  afraid  lest  once  again  I 
may  draw  down  his  wrath  upon  myself.  Perhaps  thou  hadst  best  be 
content  with  a  public  of  low  degree  (69-88).  But  in  so  difficult  a 
matter  I  will  not  counsel  thee;  circumstances  alone  can  direct  thee 
aright  (89-92).  Perhaps  some  kind  friend  may  introduce  thee  to  the 
august  presence ;  and  then  I  wish  thee  all  success,  and  pray  that  the 
imperial  anger  may  be  pacified  (93-104).  When  thou  art  arrived  at 
thy  master's  home,  avoid  those  brothers  of  thine,  the  Art  of  Love,  the 
murderers  of  their  sire ;  say,  too,  that  the  story  of  my  altered  fortune 
may  now  be  added  to  the  changes  of  shape  of  which  I  have  sung 
1^105-122).  This  is  my  message;  more  were  too  great  a  burden  for 
thee,  for  the  road  is  long  (123-128). 


1.  1.  nee.  invideo,  *I  bear  you  no  grudge  for  it.'  Cic.  Tusc.  iv.  8. 
§  17,  'invidentiam  esse  dicunt  aegritudinem  susceptam  propter  alterius 
res  secundas,  quae  nihil  noceant  invidenti.' 

1.  2.  quod  licet.  Indie,  because  the  writer's  opinion  is  directly 
stated :  R.  741.  The  form  of  expression  is  common  with  Ov. ;  cp.  infr. 
112 ;  6.  29. 

I.  3.  exulis,  sc.  librum. 

1. 4.  temporis  huius, '  wear  in  thy  woe  the  attire  that  befits  this  hour.' 

II.  5-8.  '  Be  not  thy  wrapper  of  the  bilberry's  purple  hue,  that  colour 
assorts  not  well  with  sorrow  :  let  no  vermeil  stain  thy  letter-piece,  thy 
page  no  cedar  oil ;  bear  thou  no  white  bosses  on  thy  sable  edge.' 

For  a  full  account  of  the  structure  of  the  ancient  book,  and  of  the 
terms  used  in  the  present  passage,  see  Appendix,  ad  loc. 

1.  5.  vaccinium  is  probably  the  bilberry,  the  purple  juice  of  whose 
berries  was  smeared  upon  the  parchment.  Vergil,  Eel.  ii.  18,  speaks  of 
'vaccinia  nigra'  with  reference  to  the  dark  external  appearance  of  the 
berry ;  Ovid  adds  purpureo  fuco  because  it  is  with  the  colouring  matter 
that  he  is  concerned. 

1.  9.  *  Let  such  equipments  as  these  furnish  forth  the  volumes  of  the 
fortunate.' 

1.  12.  sparsis,  applied  to  hair,  means  *  disordered,'  •dishevelled,'  and 
is  a  stronger  word  than  passis  (pt.  of  pando),  wrongly  read  here  by 
GUthling,  which  means  simply  unloosened,  and  is  applied  to  women  only 
(see  Forcell.) ;  whereas  in  Ovid's  imagery  books  are  always  males. 

1.  14.  Perhaps  a  reminiscence  of  Prop.  iv.  (v.)  3.  4,  'Haec  erit  e 
lacrimis  facta  litura  meis.' 

1.  1 5.  verbis  meis  =  *  meo  nomine,'  '  for  me ;  *  Cic.  ad  Att.  xvi.  11,8, 
*  Atticae  meis  verbis  suavium  des  volo.'    Liv.  xxii.  58.  9. 


NOTES.      I.  1.  1-24. 


29 


1  16  *At  least  I'll  touch  them  with  what  foot  I  may.*  There  is  a 
play  on  the  double  meaning  of  pes :  though  I  may  not  touch  Roman 
soil  with  the  foot  of  my  body,  I  may  yet  do  so  with  the  foot  of  my 
verse.  Pes  means  the  metre,  not  the  foot  in  our  sense ;  so  m  Ibis  45 
he  says  of  the  elegiac  metre : 

*  Prima  quidem  coepto  committam  proelia  versu, 
non  soleant  quamvis  hoc  pede  bella  geri.' 
For  another  play  upon  words  see  infr.  11.  16,  and  cp.  iv.  5.  7,  'cuius 
eram  censu  non  me  sensurus  egentem.* 

1  17.  in  populo,  'as  may  well  be  in  the  crowd,  a  brachylogy 
common  with  Ovid:  cp.  ii.  158,  'cuius,  ut  in  populo,  pars  tgo  nuper 
eram;'  P.  i.  7.  16,  'in  quibus,  ut  populo,  pars  ego  parva  fui;  iv.  5. 
n ,  •  siquis,  ut  in  populo,  qui  sitis  et  unde.  requiret.'  See  Verg.  Aen.  1. 148. 
illi  is  the  primitive  form  of  i/lic  (cp.  isii),  found  agam  m  11.  373, 
'quid  prius  est  illi  flamma  Briseidos?'  F.  vi.  424,  'hocsuperest  illi, 
Pallada  Roma  tenet : '  frequent  in  Plant,  and  Ter.,  and  occurrmg  also 
in  Cic.  Fam.  viii.  15.2  (Neue  Formenlehre,  ii.  629). 

With  illi  supply  est :  the  omission  of  the  substantive  verb  is  common 
with  Ovid;  see  inf.  21.56;  2.102;  5.53;  8.38;  iv.  4.  45,  53;  v.  7.52; 

i  18.  requiret.  The  subj.  would  be  more  usual,  cp.inf.  66,  but  the 
indie,  is  not  uncommon  in  poets  after  such  expressions  as  est  {sunt) 
qui,  used  to  define  existing  persons  or  classes.     R.  703.  1^1- 

1  19.  salvum,  'well.'     Cp.  the  ordinary  salutation,  *satm  salvus? 

1  20  quod  is  the  causal  conjunction,  which  naturally  takes  an  indic.  in 
a  subordinate  clause  like  the  present,  denoting  a  fact  in  apposition  to  the 
object  of  the  verb  habere.  (Professor  Nettleship  quotes  Hor.  C.  iv.  3.  24, 
*  quod  spiro  ac  placeo,  si  placeo,  tuum  est')  ;  here  the  subj.  is  used  be- 
cause these  words  arc  to  be  reported  by  the  Book  as  the  words  of  its 

master.  ,       ,  , 

1   21.  'And  these  injunctions  given,  then  silent— he  that  asks  more 

must  read-beware  lest  thou  chance  to  speak  what  thou  shouldst  not. 

Ita  is  restrictive,  qualifying  tacitus :  see  L.  and  S.  s   y.  ita,  II.   D. 

Ita  tacitus  =  >irV  dictis  tacitus:  silent,  but  only  after  having  uttered 

the  instructions  I  have  just  given,     legendum,  sc.  est, 

1    22    Quaais  ace,  object  to  loqui,  understood.  _ 

1.'  23.  repetet,  sc.  cogitandor  ^'-^^"^  go  back  to '  in  his  thoughts,  i.e. 

will  recall.     Inf.  3.  3-  , .      .  ,  j  1        1 

mea  crimina,  '  my  offences.'    The  plural  is  either  used  loosely  or 
mav  refer  to  the  two  offences  he  had  committed  against  Augustus,  (i)thc 
writing  of  the  Ars  Amatoria,  (2)  the  unknown  offence.     Cp.  inf.  2.  96. 
1  24   Peragere  reum  is  the  legal  phrase  for  to  continue  a  prosecu- 


30 


OVIDI  TRISTIA, 


'I  shall  be  proved 
*   cp.  P.  6.  iv.  30, 


tion  till  the  defendant  is  condemned.     Translate: 

guilty  as  a  state-offender   in  the  people's  mouth 

'posse  tuo  peragi  vix  putet  ore  reos.'     [Gael.  ap.  Cic.  Fam.  viii.  8.  i. — 

H.  J.  R.]     The  sense  is,  However  much  you   hear  me  criticised  you 

must  not  defend  me.     Agere  reum,  on  the  other  hand  (inf.  8.  46,  P. 

iv.  14.  38),  is  simply  to  accuse  a  man.     For  publicus,  cp.  Cic.  ad 

Fam.  vi.  6.  7,  where  augur  publicus  =  •  a  political  prophet.' 

1.  25.  cav§.  This  word  and  vid^  are  the  only  such  imperatives 
whose  final  e  is  shortened  in  classical  writers ;  though  the  scansion  is 
common  in  Plaut.  and  Ter.,  and  the  licence  is  greatly  enlarged  by  Chris- 
tian writers  (Lucian  Miiller,  De  re  metr.  p.  340). 

defendas,  jussive  subj.  in  quasi-dependence  on  cave, 
quamvis  mordebere.     Quamvis  with  indie,  common  in  Ovid, 
is  post-Ciceronian  :  R.  677  d.     Wilkins  on  Hor.  Epp.  i.  14.  6. 

1.  26.  patrocinio,  instrum,  abl.,  '  through  advocacy.'  maior  =  *  diffi- 
cilior/  as  in  Cic.  Cat.  mai.  §  i,  *  quarum  consolatio  et  maior  est  et  in 
aliud  tempus  differenda.' 

1.  27.  ademptum,  a  word  specially  used  of  those  taken  away  by 
death  ;  to  which  Ovid  is  fond  of  likening  his  banishment  (inf.  113  n.) 
Cp.  iv.  10,  79,  *non  aliter  flevi  [sc.  his  dead  brother]  quam  me  fleturus 
ademptum  Ille  fuit.* 

1.  28.  ista,  these  verses  on  your  pages.  Contrast  ille  (31),  'that  far 
friend  of  mine  unknown.'  Note  the  elegance  with  which  the  burden  of 
V.  30  is  amplified  and  enforced  in  w,  32-34. 

1.  32.  miseris,  quite  general, '  the  wretched,'  with  his  own  case  specially 
in  view. 

1.  33.  Princeps,  not  to  be  confounded  yf\\h princeps  senatus,  was  the 
informal  appellation  which  the  acute  moderation  of  Augustus  led  him 
to  choose  as  his  distinctive  citizen -title.  He  was  Xht  foremost  citizen  of 
Rome,  and  so  describes  himself  in  the  Mon.  Anc.  ii.  45  ;  vi.  6.  Thus 
Tacitus  (A.  i.  i.)  says  of  him,  *cuncta  discordiis  civilibus  fessa  nomine 
principis  sub  imperium  accepit.' 

1.  34.  The  ancients,  like  the  modem  Chinese,  regarded  it  as  ill-omened 
to  die  in  a  foreign  land.     See  the  touching  prayer  of  TibuUus  (i.  3) 
when  sick  at  Corcyra,  that  he  may  not  die  away  from  home, 
det,  with  infin.  as  object,  R.  534. 

1.  35.  ut,  concessive,  as  inf.  61.  ii.  43. 

1.  36.  ingenii,  possessive  gen.,  ♦  And  you  will  be  said  to  fall  short  of 
the  fame  won  by  my  genius.'  Ferere^  sc.  omnium  sermonibus  (L.  and 
S.  s.v.  II.  A.  7.),  cp.  V.  14.  3,  *  Detrahat  auctori  multum  fortuna,  licebit : 
Tu  tamen  ingenio  clara  ferere  meo.'  He  then  proceeds  to  show  cause 
^hy  he  may  well  fall  short  of  his  former  excellence. 


NOTES,      I.  i.  25-53. 


31 


1.  37.  iudicis,  the  judge,  and  so  the  critic.     [With  tempora  rerum 
Prof.  Nettleship  compares  Verg.  Aen.  vii.  36,  *  quae  tempora  renim.'] 

1.  39.  deducta,  metaphor  from  drawing  out  the  threads  from  the 
distaff.  Hor.  Epp.  ii.  i.  225  ;  Prop.  i.  16.  41.  For  tempora  cp.  inf. 
9.  6.  Serenus  =  dTy,  and  so  cloudless,  is  contrasted  with  nuhila. 
Translate  :  '  Verses  are  produced  when  drawn  from  an  untroubled  mind ; 
my  d^ys  are  clouded  over  with  sudden  misfortunes.  Verses  demand 
retirement  and  ease  in  their  writer ;  I  am  tossed  to  and  fro  by  sea  and 
winds  and  the  wild  storm.  Verses  have  no  part  in  any  kind  of  fear ;  I, 
a  ruined  man,  am  every  moment  thinking  that  the  sword  will  touch  my 
throat.'  Juvenal  (7.  53-73)  has  finely  enlarged  upon  the  commonplace 
that  the  poet  should  be  free  from  the  fears  and  anxieties  of  the  vulgar. 
The  sentiment  is  repeated  with  mournful  insistance,  v.  12.  3,  «carmina 
laetum  Sunt  opus  et  pacem  mentis  habere  volunt.' 

1.  47.  da  mihi,  etc.,  '  Give  me  a  Homer's  self— marking  well  my 
many  sorrows— and  all  his  powers  will  fail  him  in  the  presence  of  such 
heavy  woes.'  The  sufferings  I  am  exposed  to  are  enough  to  have  chUled 
the  poetic  fire  of  Homer  himself  (P.  iv.  2.  21)  : 

'Si  quis  in  hac  ipsum  terra  possuisset  Homerum; 
esset,  crede  mihi,  factus  et  ille  Getes.' 
The  expression  da  mihi  is  a  general  formula,  not  addressed  to  the 
reader  personally,  equivalent  to   'if  I  were  to  become  Homer/    So 

P.  iv.  1 .  1 7  : 

'  Da  mihi,  si  quid  ea  est,  hebetantem  pectora  Lethen, 

oblitus  potero  non  tamen  esse  tui.' 
Rem.  63, 64.  The  imperative  contains  the  protasis  to  a  condit.  sentence, 
which  in  its  simple  form  would  run  '  Si  dabis  mihi  Maeoniden  et  tot 
casus  circumspicies— excidet,'  etc.  Cp.  Am.  i.  10.  64,  •  quod  nego  pos- 
centi,  desine  velle  (  =  si  desines  velle)  dabo ;'  Job  i.  11, '  Put  forth  thme 
hand  now,  and  touch  all  that  he  hath,  ^v^^hewill  curse  thee  to  thy  face.' 
tantis  malis,  abl.  of  instr.,  excidet  being  equivalent  to  a  passive 
verb ;  cp.  ii.  32,  xi.  9,  and  27. 

Maeoniden  (Milton,  P.  L.  iii.  35)'  a  name  of  Homer,  either 
because  Smyrna  in  Lydia,  anciently  called  Maeonia,  was  one  of  the 
towns  that  claimed  his  birthplace ;  or,  more  probably,  because  Maeon, 
a  legendary  king  of  Lydia,  was  his  putative  father  (Aristotle  ap.  Pseudo- 
plutarch,  de  vita  et  poesi  Homeri,  i.  3). 

1.  49.  famae  securus  =  sine  cura/amae, '  without  a  thought  for  fame.* 

1.  50.  [*  nor  be  ashamed  if  you  do  not  please  when  read.' — H.  J.  R.] 

1.  53.  'Titulus'  meant  originally  merely  '  an  inscription,'  but  it  is  used 

especially  of  one  recordmg  exploits,  inscribed  on  statues,  or  tombstones, 

or  trophies.     Hence,  as  here,  it  passes  into  the  general  sense  of  *  fame ;  * 


3* 


OVIDI  TRtSTIA. 


\ 


thus  tiiuH  flrf«^r='laudis  amor'  (v.  la.  38),  and  inf.  xi.  30,  'nostrae 
mortis  titulus  '=*the  distinction  of  having  slain  me.*  Contrast  I.  7  and 
1.  67,  where  *  titulus '  =  '  lettering-piece  '  (Appendix  on  1.  5). 

1.  56.  sic  is  explained  by  ingenio  meo,  *  it  was  thus,  even  by  my  poet's 
vein,  that  exile  came.' 

1.  58.  facerent,  the  optative  use  of  the  subj.,  R.  666,  with  a  dependent 
jussive  subj.  {possem),  expressing  the  wish,  following  it,  R.  672.  [Cp. 
M.  viii.  72,  'di  facerent,  sine  patre  forem.'— H.  J.  R.]  Both  this  con- 
struction vi'iih.  facere,  and  ut  with  a  consecutive  subj.  are  found ;  compare 
e.  g.  Catull.  Ixviii.  46,  'facite  haec  carta  loquatur  anus*  witb  cix.  3, 
'  Di  magni,  facite  ut  vere  promittere  possit.' 

The  two  optative  expressions  *  di  faciant*  (H.  ii.  66  ;  xiii.  94  ;  Am.  iL 
10.  30;  Rem.  785  ;  T.  iv.  7.  9;  v.  13.  17  ;  P.  i.  3.  97  ;  4.  48;  iii.  i.  137; 
iv.  4.  47  ;  9.  3 ;  lb.  351)  and  '  di  facerent '  (H.  x.  133  ;  xv.  157  ;  T.  v. 
4.  13)  are  frequent  in  Ovid,  the  former  denoting  the  wish  as  attainable, 
the  latter  as  unattainable. 
1.  61.  ut,  sup.  35,  n. 
1.  63.  intrato,  imperat. 

carmina,  the  Ars  Amatoria,  which  alone  of  his  poems  prejudiced 
him  in  the  eyes  of  Augustus. 

1.  66.  e  gremio.  The  ancients  usually  reclined  while  reading,  and 
rested  the  book  upon  the  lap.     Cp.  11.  38,  n. 

1.  69.  exspectes,  subj.  of  reported  question  after  fopsitan. 

palatia.  There  is  no  reference  here  to  the  great  Palatine  library 
in  the  temple  of  Apollo,  as  in  P.  i.  i.  5  ;  but  the  locality  simply  is  meant, 
as  in  iv.  2.3,'  altaque  velentur  fortasse  Palatia  sertis.'  Augustus  had 
a  palace  on  the  Palatine,  near  which,  or  in  the  adjacent  Velia,  also  were 
temples  of  the  tutelary  gods  of  Rome— Juppiter  Stator,  Juppiter  Victor, 
Juno  Sospita,  Apollo,  Vesta,  the  Lares  and  Penates.  See  Merivale,  v.  24 fF. 
Bum,  Rome  and  the  Campagna,  ch.  viii.  Hence  the  words  augusta  loca 
dique  locorum,  though,  of  course,  Augustus  there  is  specially  meant. 
1.  72.  fulmen,  his  sentence  of  banishment. 

arce,  *  high  place,'  as  in  Verg.  Geor.  ii.  535  ;  Aen.  vii.  696.     It  is 
from  the  arx  caeii  that  Juppiter,  from  the  arx  Palati  that  Augustus  hurl* 
his  bolts.     Cp.  V.  3.  19,  'ipse  quoque  aetherias  mentis invectus es  arces> 
Quo  non  exiguo  facta  labore  via  est.' 
L  75  ff.    Cp.  M.  vi.  527  ff. : 

*  Ilia  tremit,  velut  agna  pavens,  quae  saucia  cani 
ore  excussa  lupi  nondum  sibi  tuta  videtur, 
utque  columba  suo  madefactis  sanguine  plumis 
horret  adhuc  avidosque  timet,  quibus  haeserat,  ungues.' 
1.  75.  The  burnt  child  fears  the  fire. 


NOTES.      I.  i.  56-88. 


33 


(\ 


1.  78.  [excussa,  not  '  snatched  from,'  but '  dropped  from,'  in  conse- 
quence of  a  blow  or  some  surprise.  Excutio  properly  means  to  strike  or 
knock  out.—U.  Nettleship.]  Cp.  excidet,  1.  48,  which  is  virtually  the 
passive  of  'excutio;'  and  to  M.  quoted  above  add  Cic.  p.  Mur.  §  30, 
*  omnia  ista  nobis  studia  de  manibus  excutiuntur.' 

1.  79.  vitaret,  *  would  have  ever  avoided  if  he  had  continued  to  live.* 
[For  the  use  of  the  imperf.  subj.  applied  in  a  conditional  sentence  to 
times  past  and  gone  (a  reference  necessitated  by  the  plup.  optarat), 
comp.  Cic.  Cluent.  §  61,  'quid  enim  tandem  illi  iudices  responderent,  si 
quis  ab  iis  quaereret  ?  condemnastis,'  etc.  =  *  What  could  they  have 
answered,  had  anyone  asked  them  ? ' — H.  Nettleship.] 

Phaethon  gained  permission  from  his  father  Phoebus  to  drive  the 
chariot  of  the  sun  for  a  day,  and  being  unable  to  control  the  horses 
lost  his  life.     The  legend  is  told  in  M.  ii.  i  ff. 

1.  80.  optarat,  '  he  had  once  wished  for,'  i.  e.  at  the  time  when  he 
ascended  his  father's  chariot.  Ovid  frequently  uses  the  pluperfect  to 
emphasise  that  the  time  spoken  of  is  now  past  and  done  with  ;  thus 
it  lays  stress  on  the  fact  that  the  time  spoken  of  was  long  ago.  See  iii. 
11.25;  V.  5.  3;  V.  12.  30. 

1.  82.  infesto  igne,  instnim.  abl. 

1.  83.  Nauplius,  the  father  of  Palamedes,  in  revenge  for  the  death  of 
his  son,  hung  out  false  lights  on  the  promontory  of  Caphereus  in  Euboea, 
and  thus  caused  the  shipwreck  of  the  Greek  fleet  on  its  return  from 
Troy.  Cp.  v.  7.35,  '  quaeque  modo  Euboicis  lacerata  est  fluctibus, 
audet  Graia  Capheieam  cunere  puppis  aquam;'  Prop.  iii.  (iv.)  7.  39; 
*Saxa  triumphales  fregere  Capherea  puppes, 
naufraga  cum  vasto  Graecia  tracta  salo  est.* 

1.  85.  vasta,  '  desolating.'  The  word  implies  that  in  which  nothing 
lives  (Munro,  Lucr.  1^722).    Cp.  Verg.  Aen.  vii.  302, '  vasta  Charybdis.' 

1.  86.  quo  =  in  quo,  poetic. 

1.  87.  ergo.     See  Appendix  ad  loc. 

1.  88.  ut  sit.  The  consecutive  subj.  restricts  the  meaning  of  the  previous 
words ;  though  in  such  a  case  it  is  common  for  ita  to  precede  «/,  still,  as 
in  inf.  3. 101,  iv.  4.  4,  ut  frequently  stands  without  ita  (R.  714c.).  We 
must  not  press  the  inconsistency  of  his  saying  here  that  he  must  be 
content  with  a  humble  public,  as  compared  with  91,  where  he  says  that 
it  is  hard  for  him  to  advise  whether  his  book  shall  seek  to  gain  the 
Emperor's  ear.  A  poet  is  not  logical ;  his  verse  reflects  the  varying, 
moods  of  his  mind ;  and  such  an  inconsistency  is  quite  in  keeping  with 
his  nature.  (Cp.  on  115  inf.).  Translate:  *  Be  then  so  cautious  and 
careful  in  thy  timorous  heart  that  to  be  read  by  those  of  low  degree  alone 
content  thee.' 


34 


OVIDI   TRISTIA, 


media  plebs,  in  the  sense  of  moderate,  ordinary  people,  is  fre- 
quent in  Ovid.  Cp.  ii.  351,  *  media  de  plebe  maritus ; '  v.  7.  54  ;  F.  v. 
20;  M.  V.  207  ;  xi.  283. 

1.  90.  Icarus  was  provided  with  wings  by  his  father  Daedalus  to  fly 
from  Crete ;  but  approaching  too  near  the  sun,  the  waxen  fastenings  of 
his  wings  were  melted,  and  he  fell  down  into  the  sea  north  of  Crete,  to 
which  he  gave  his  name.     See  M.  viii.  183  ff. 

1.  91.  hinc,  from  this  place  far  away  from  Rome.  Cp.  P.  i.  5.  71,  *  nee 
reor  hinc  istuc  nostris  iter  esse  libellis.' 

utaris,  dependent  interrogative,  jussive  subj.,  R.  674  b.  As  one 
not  present  could  not  advise  the  skipper  of  a  ship  whether  on  any 
particular  occasion  he  should  use  oars  or  sails,  so  Ovid,  far  away 
in  exile,  cannot  advise  as  to  what  it  is  best  for  his  book  to  do  at 

Rome. 

1.  93.  vacuo  ('unoccupied'),  i.e.  Augustus,  who  has  been  mentioned 

as  Juppiter  in  line  81.     With  cuncta  mitia  cp.  73. 

1.  96.  tamen  expresses   a   consolatory    thought   qualifying    pauoa, 

*  though  it  were  but  a  few  words.'     Cp.  inf.  8.  20.     [Cic.  Quinct.  §  71, 

*  quia  tamen  aliquem  .  .  .  advocare  poterat ; '  Rose.  Am.  §  8,  *  quam 
ob  rem  videantur  nonnihil  tamen  .  .  .  secuti ;'  Cluent.  §  22,  'tamen 
unum;'  Cat.  iii.  §  10,  '  Cethegus,  qui  paulo  ante  aliquid  tamen  de 
gladiis  et  sicis  .  .  .  respondisset.'— H.  Nettleship.] 

1.  100.  Telephus,  king  of  Mysia,  was  wounded  by  the  spear  of 
Achilles,  in  opposing  the  march  of  the  Greeks  to  Troy.  An  oracle 
declared  that  the  spear  which  gave  the  wound,  alone  could  cure  it ; 
and  in  consequence  of  another  oracle  that  without  his  aid  the  Greeks 
could  not  take  Troy,  Telephus  was  reconciled  to  Achilles,  and  was 
cured  by  a  poultice  made  from  the  rust  of  the  spear.  Cp.  ii.  19 : 
*Forsitan  ut  quondam  Teuthrantia  regna  tenenti, 
sic  mihi  res  eadem  vulnus  opemque  feret. 

▼.  3.  15  : 

'Telephus  aeterna  consumptus  tabe  perisset, 
si  non  quae  nocuit  dextra  tulisset  opem.* 
1.  103.  resaeviat,   a  word  coined  by  Ovid  and  apparently  an  &va( 
€iprjfiiVov. 

L  104.  sis  cave.    Cp.  on  25. 

1.  105.  penetrale,  poetical  iox  cubicuhimy  the  study  or  'sanctum'  ia 
which  Ovid  wrote.    See  Rich.  s.  v.  Cubkulum.   Cp.  iii.  12.  53  : 
♦Di  facite,  ut  Caesar  non  hie  penetrale  domumque, 
hospitium  poenae  sed  velit  esse  meae.' 
L  106.  scrinia  curva.  See  supr.  5,  n.  (in  Appendix). 
1.107.  fratres  (thus  personified  in  iii.  i.  65,  'Quaerebam  fratres, 


NOTES,      I.  i.  90-117. 


35 


exceptis  scilicet  illis,  Quos  suus  optaret  non  genuisse  pater;'  cp.  supr. 
12  n  )  his  other  published  works.  They  were  the  Amores,  Remedmm 
Amoris,  Medicamina  formae,  Heroides,  Medea  (a  lost  tragedy),  Ars 
Amatoria,  and  Metamorphoses  (unfinished).  The  Fasti,  Ibis,  and 
Epistulae  ex  Ponto  had  not  appeared  yet ;  and  the  fragment  Halieuticon 
was  published  after  his  death.  .,  .  , 

1.  108.  evigilavit,  'prepared  with  elaborate  care/  lit.  '  with  midnight 
watchings  (vigiliae).^ 

1.  109.  titulos,  supr.  5,  n.  (in  Appendix).  ^   ^ 

1.  no.  'And  wear  their  names  on  their  uncovered  brows;  i.e. 
when  their  frons  has  been  uncovered  by  the  case  {membrana)  being 

opened. 

1.  112.  hi  (sunt  ei)  qui  quod  .  .  .   docent. 

I.  113.  As  the  poet  is  the  parent  of  his  poems  (115),  so  those  poems 
which  procured  his  banishment  are  virtually  parricides.  For  banishment 
is  as  bad  as  death  to  him  (supr.  27,  n.;  Ibis  16) ;  and  his  last  hours  at 
Rome  are  described  as  his  funeral,  inf.  3.  33  and  89;  so  exsequits, 

inf.  118. 

Oedipus  was  exposed  by  his  father  Laius  on  account  of  an  oracle 
which  declared  that  he  should  kill  his  father.  But  he  was  saved,  and 
when  arrived  at  manhood  he  met  Laius  on  the  road  between  Delphi  and 
Daulis,  and  killed  him  unknowingly.  A  similar  fate  befell  Telegonus,  a 
son  of  Ulysses  by  Circe.  He  was  sent  by  his  mother  to  find  his  father ; 
and  being  driven  by  a  storm  to  land  at  Ithaca,  and  compelled  to  support 
his  followers  by  ravaging  the  country,  he  was  attacked  by  Ulysses, 
whom  lie  killed  with  a  spear  tipped  with  the  bone  of  a  seafish.  Ibis 
567.     Thus  Horace  C.  iii.  29.  8,  speaks  of '  Telegoni  iuga  parricidae.' 

oris,  'effrontery,'  a  meaning  common  in  Cicero.  The  colloquial- 
ism '  to  have  the  face  to  do  a  thing,'  corresponds  to  the  Latin  meta- 
phor, and  was  once  admitted  in  standard  English  (Wilkins  on  Cic.  de 
Or.  1. 175).    Cp.  P.  i.  I.  80,  '  plus  isto  duri,  si  precer,  oris  ero.' 

1. 1 1 5.  Here  again  the  train  of  thought  is  that  of  a  poet  rather  than  a 
logician.  The  books  of  the  Ars  are  to  be  called  parricides  (114),  and  are 
not  to  be  loved  by  their  brother  for  all  that  their  subject  is  the  Art  of 
Love.  A  parricide  would  naturally  not  be  loved,  it  is  true ;  but  the 
addition  of  the  timid  warning  to  resist  the  lessons  of  those  who  teach 
how  to  love,  is  a  negligence  of  writing  quite  Ovidian ;  cp.  on  88  supr. 

1.  116.  quamvis,  with  indie;  see  supr.  25,  n.        ^ 

\.  117.  mutatae  formae,  '  the  changes  of  shape,'  nom.  in  apposition 
to  ter  q.  v.  In  El.  vii.  he  says  that  in  the  first  transport  of  his  grief  at 
the  news  of  his  banishment  he  burnt  the  Metamorphoses,  but  that  his 
friends  had  preserved  copies,  which  may  thus  be  described  as  rescued 

D    2 


3<S 


OVIDI  TRISTIA. 


i 


from  burning  at  his  funeral.  The  fifteen  books  are  written  on  fifteen 
different  rolls,  according  to  the  usual  practice  (supr.  5,  n.  in  Appendix). 

1.  119.  dicas,  jussive  subj.  depending  on  mando.  Cp.  on  25.  Trans- 
late :  •  Them  I  bid  thee  tell  that  among  the  changes  of  bodies  may  be 
reckoned  the  now  changed  features  of  my  Fortune.' 

1.  123.  mandare,  infin.,  poetically  used  in  imitation  of  the  Greek 

idiom,  R.  540.  3. 

1.  125.  Note  the  conditional  sequence  and  force  of  the  tenses.  The 
fut.  part,  depending  on  the  auxiliary  verb,  in  the  apodosis,  expresses 
probability  or  possibility.  'If  you  were  carrying  with  you  all  the 
thoughts  that  keep  occurring  to  me,  you  would  be  likely  to  be  a  heavy 
burden.*     For  the  form  of  conditional  sentence  see  on  6.  14. 

1.  126.  laturo,  probably  the  book  was  carried  to  Rome  by  one  of  the 
sailors  of  the  ship  that  carried  his  goods  to  Tomi  (he  himself  went  from 
Tempyra  in  Thrace  by  land;  inf.  xi.  introd.),  for  the  next  couplet  seems 
to  imply  that  he  had  already  arrived,  hence  habitabitiir  orbis  ultimus 
will  mean  'the  world's  end  will  now  be  my  home,'  not  *will  soon  be  my 
home,'  as  it  is  explained  by  those  who  consider  that  this  book  was 
>vritten  from  Thrace  before  he  amved  at  Tomi. 

eras,  the  indic.  is  used  because  not  the  occurrence  of  the  act  but 
its  probability  is  stated,  R.  643,  c 

1.  127.  nobis  is  dat.  of  agent. 

El.  II. 

Written  during  a  storm  on  the  Ionian  sea.     Sir  Aston  Cokain  had 
this  description  in  his  mind  ;  Tragedy  of  Ovid,  Act  ii.  Sc.  i  : 
Han.    From  Ostia  we  have  had  a  voyage  hither 

so  fraught  with  storms  and  tempests,  that  I  wonder 
the  sea-gods — 
Cac.  the  sea-monsters  call  them  rather^ 

Han.    were  not  all  tired  with  using  so  much  rage 
on  us,  etc. 

Summary.— Ye  gods  of  sea  and  sky,  spare  me  and  save  me  from  the 
storm.  The  divine  Caesar,  it  is  true,  is  angry ;  but  it  is  the  custom  of 
the  gods  to  support  a  stricken  mortal  against  a  fellow-god's  wrath 
(1-12).  Ah!  poor  wretch!  my  words  fall  unavailing:  the  tempest 
gathers  force,  and  the  wild  winds  whirl  away  my  sails  and  supplications 
alike  unheeding.  The  very  pilot  is  distracted,  and  each  wave  that 
breaks  seems  destined  to  engulf  us  (13-36).  My  dear  wife's  sorrow  is 
all  for  my  exile  ;  little  she  knows  that  death  by  shipwreck  is  likely  to  be 
my  portion.     Still,  if  I  die,  half  of  myself  survives  in  her  (37-44) 


NOTES.      I.  1.  119 — 11.  9. 


37 


Thunder  and  lightning  is  added  to  the  horrors  of  the  hour.  Death  I  do 
not  dread,  but  only  death  by  shipwreck.  He  that  dies  on  land  can 
cheer  himself  with  the  hope  of  burial :  his  body  will  not  be  food  for  the 
monsters  of  the  deep.  Save  me,  ye  gods,  and  these  that  are  my  fellows, 
for  they  at  least  have  not  deserved  such  a  death.  Nay,  my  very  judge 
did  not  condemn  me  to  death,  as  he  easily  might  have  done,  but  only  to 
exile.  Exile  is  surely  punishment  enough  (45-74).  I  am  not  sailing 
in  search  of  wealth  or  pleasure ;  Tomi,  on  the  shores  of  the  Euxine,  is 
my  destination  (75-86).  Whether  you  hate  or  love  me,  you  surely  will 
bring  me  safe  to  the  port  that  Caesar  has  ordained  (87-94).  I  have 
deserved  my  sentence  I  know,  yet  my  guilt  was  not  wilful.  If  I  have 
always  been  a  humble  supporter  of  the  house  of  Caesar,  then  spare  me, 
if  not,  whelm  me  in  the  deep.  Lo  !  I  am  not  deceived ;  you  have  heard 
my  prayer,  and  are  vouchsafing  to  abate  the  storm  (95-110). 


1.  I.  The  di  maris  are  invoked  as  controlling  the  seas,  the  di  caeli 
as  supreme  over  the  wind ;  cp.  59,  superi  viridesque  dei. 

supersunt,  P.  iv.  2.  45,  'Quid,  nisi  Pierides,  solacia  frigida, 
restant!  The  pi.  number  is  due  to  two  considerations :  (i)  grammatical 
attraction  to  the  nearest  subst.,  and  (2)  to  the  emphasis  being  on  vota.. 
Conversely,  in  M.  xiv.  396,  '  nee  quicquam  antiquum  Pico,  nisi  nomina, 
restate  the  verb  is  not  attracted  to  the  number  of  nomina  because  the 
stress  is  on  quicquam  antiquum^  *  nothing  of  his  former  self  is  left  to 
Picus.' 

1.  2.  membra,  'pieces.'     Ibis  17  and  278. 

I.  3.  subscribite,  'give  your  support  to.*  Subscribers  properly 
means  to  act  as  subscriptor,  a  subordinate  advocate  for  the  prosecution. 
Cic.  div.  in  Caec.  §  47,  '  ipse  nihil  est,  nihil  potest :  at  venit  paratus 
cum  subscriptoribus  exercitatis  et  disertis.' 

1.  4.  Caesar  has  already  been  mentioned  as  a  god,  i.  7^  ^^^  S^- 

I.  5.  The  illustrations  are  taken  from  the  Iliad  (5-6\  the  Aeneid 
(7-8),  and  the  Odyssey  (9-10).  Tumus,  King  of  the  Rutulians,  was 
robbed  of  his  bride  Lavinia  by  Aeneas  (who  came  to  Latium  after  the 
sack  of  Troy),  and  led  the  Italians  in  the  war  against  the  invading 
Trojans.  Milton,  P.  L.  ix.  16,  'rage  Of  Turnus  for  Lavinia  disespoused  ; 
Or  Neptune's  ire,  or  Juno's,  that  so  long  Perplex'd  the  Greek,  and 
Cytherea's  son.* 

1.  8.  numine,  'protection,*  abl.  instr.     Inf.  x.  12. 

1.  9.  cautum  is  meant  to  express  the  standing  epithets  of  Ulysses, 
the  shrewd  and  patient  hero  of  the  Odyssey,  iroXvTpoTros,  iroKvfiijTis,  who 
is  always  able  by  his  cleverness  to  find  an  escape  from  the  greatest 


fl 


38 


OVIDI   TRISTIA. 


perils.  Neptune's  anger  against  Ulysses  was  caused  partly  because  he 
had  killed  his  grandson  Palamedes,  and  partly  because  he  had  blinded 
his  son,  the  Cyclops  Polyphemus. 

1.  10.  Cp.  inf.  5.  'j6. 

1.  II.  quamvis,  with  indie,  i.  25,  n.  'Though  I  am  of  far  humbler 
degree  than  they.' 

1.  17.  ne  causa  laedar  in  una,  'that  I  may  not  be  injured  in  one 
respect  alone ; '  i.  e.  that  I  may  be  injured  not  only  by  banishment,  but 
also  by  storm.     In  = '  in  respect  of.*     Cp.  inf.  66,  '  in  hoc ;'  5.  39,  n. 

1.  20.  sidera  summa,  for  the  hyperbole  cp.  Verg.  Aen.  i.  102,  '  pro- 
cella  .  .  .  fluctus  ad  sidera  tollit.'  This  passage  and  M.  xi.  497,  *P'luc- 
tibus  erigitur  caelumque  aequare  videtur  Pontus  et  inductas  adspergine 
tangere  nubes,'  are  elaborations  in  Ovid's  manner  of  Vergil's  idea. 

1.  2 1 .  *  How  huge  the  valleys  that  sink  down  as  the  level  of  the  sea  is 
separated.' 

1.  22.  Again  from  Verg.  Aen.  iii.  564,  'Tollimur  in  caelum  curvato 
gurgite,  et  idem  Subducta  ad  Manis  imos  desedimus  unda.' 

1.  23.  See  Appendix  ad  loc. 

1.  24.  hie  .  .  .  ille,  the  sea,  being  nearer  to  the  speaker  than 
the  clouds,  is  constructed,  contrary  to  ordinary  usage,  with  the  nearer 
demonstrative:  cp.  inf.  9.  12  ;  Cic.  p.  Sull.  §  8;  and  for  the  ordinary 
use  inf.  11.  29. 

1.  28.  sero  vespere  missus,  'sped  from  the  twilight  west.'  Vesper 
opposed  to  ortus,  is  the  west  here,  as  in  M.  1.63,  'Vesper  et  occiduo  quae 
litora  sole  tepescunt  Proxima  sunt  zephyro.'  Cp.  Verg.  Aen.  v.  19.  It 
is  called  serus  because  the  latest  hours  of  day  are  spent  there,  and  the 
day  dies  there.  *  Serus  vesper,'  in  the  different  sense  of  'late  evening,'  is 
found  in  M.  iv.  415  :  so  'sera  crepuscula,'  M.  i,  219.  By  a  violation 
of  the  laws  of  nature,  common  in  ancient  poets,  all  the  winds  are 
represented  here  as  raging  simultaneously  in  order  to  intensify  the 
picture  of  the  violence  of  the  storm.  See  Conington  on  Geor.  i.  315; 
Aen.  i.  85. 

1.  29.  sicca  arcto,  not  'the  dry  north,'  because  of  the  dryness  of  the 
north  wind,  but  *  the  bear  that  never  dips  in  ocean,'  because  the 
northern  constellation  of  the  Bear  never  sets,  or  sinks  beneath  the 
horizon  of  the  sea  :  iii.  10.  3,  'Suppositum  stellis  numquam  tangentibus 
aequor  Me  sciat  in  media  vivere  barbaria  ;  *  iv.  3.  3,  *  Magna  minorque 
ferae  [the  greater  and  lesser  Bear]  . . .  omnia  cum  summo  positae  videatis 
in  axe,  Et  maris  occiduas  non  subeatis  aquas.'  Cp.  II.  xviii.  489 ;  Verg. 
Georg.  i.  246.     (For  the  legend  see  inf.  on  3,  48.) 

1.  30.  adversa  fronte, '  with  brow  that  meets  his  brother's,'  i.  e.  face 
to  face. 


NOTES.     I.  11.  10-50. 


39 


1.  31.  fugatve  petatve,  interrogative,  jussive  subjunctives  depending 
on  quid,  '  what  he  is  to  avoid,  what  to  make  for,'  R.  674  b.    So  fareat 

supr.  1.  26. 

1.  32.  ambiguis,  etc.,  'his  very  skill  is  dazed  before  the  distracting 
horrors.'    Ambiguis  malis  is  abl,  of  instr.,  cp.  i.  47,  n. 

1.  34.  unda,  *a  wave,'  as  inf.  106. 

I.  37.  me  dolet  exule, '  is  pained  by  my  being  an  exile.'  In  prose  we 
should  have  expected  '  quam  me  exulem  esse.'  Inf.  v.  41,  n.  Me  exule 
is  abl.  of  cause. 

1.  39.  corpora, '  my  body,'  rhetorical  use  of  plural  for  sing.,  very 
common  in  Ovid.  So  '  corpora,'  infra  91 ;  '  vultus  meos,'  94.  Cp.  3.  8, 
and  29 ;  4.  8  ;  9.  35  ;  V.  4.  21,  and  29 ;  6.  21  ;  8.  35.  This  rhetorical 
use  of  the  plural,  though  more  common  in  poetry,  is  found  also  in 
prose ;  see  Halm  on  Cic.  Rose.  Am.  §  96,  and  De  imp.  Pomp.  §  33  (where 
liberos  =  onQ  daughter).    Tac.  A.  vi.  34.  3  (where  liberos=^onQ.  son,  see 

Orelli). 

1.  41.  O  bene,  sc.  est,  by  a  not  uncommon  ellipsis. 

1.  43.  ut,  concessive,  i.  35,  n. 

1.  44.  dimidia  parte,  so  he  says  of  his  brother's  death,  iv.  10.  32, 
'coepi  parte  carere  mei;'  P.  i.  8.  i,  '  salutem  Accipe,  pars  animae 
magna,  Severe,  meae  ; '  and  Hor.  Od  i.  3.  8,  addressing  the  ship  that  is 
to  carry  Vergil,  'serves  animae  dimidium  meae.* 

I.  4O.  aethereo  axe,  heaven's  zenith.  Axis  is  the  imaginary  line 
drawn  from  one  pole  of  heaven,  passing  through  the  earth,  and  meeting 
the  other  pole ;  and  is  often  used,  as  here,  for  the  pole  itself,  the  zenith: 
hence  the  conventional  translations  *  cope,*  '  canopy,'  or  '  firmament,' 
convey  an  incorrect  idea.  So  in  iv.  8.  41,  '  axis  boreus '  = '  the  northern 
zenith  of  heaven,'  and  so  perhaps  v.  2.  64  (but  see  3.  48,  n.)  Axis  is 
also  used  for  the  '  axis'  of  the  earth,  or  any  other  heavenly  constellation, 
3.  48,  n.  (Forcell.  explains  axis  here  as  equivalent  to  toium  caelum) 
as  in  Aen.  iv.  482 ;  Stat.  Theb.  v.  86  ;  x.  758.) 

1.  48.  The  ballista  (ir€T/)o/3o\os)  was  an  engine  used  to  shoot  stones, 
while  the  catapulta  {tear air iXr-qs)  shot  darts.     Diet.  A.  1138B.     Cp. 

M.  xi.  507 : 

'Saepe  dat  ingentem  fluctu  latus  icta  fragorem : 
nee  levius  pulsata  sonat,  quam  ferreus  olim 
cum  laceras  aries  ballistave  concutit  arces.* 
1.  50.   Every  tenth  wave  was  supposed  by  the  Romans  to  be  the 
largest  (and  was  called  fluctus  decumanus,  Lucil.  3.28  M.),  as  by  the 
Greeks  every  third  (rp/fv/i/a,  Plat.  Rep.  472  a;    Aesch.  Prom.  1015). 
Festus,  p.  71.  5  M,  'Decumana  ova  dicuntur  et  decumani  fluctus,  quia 
sunt  magna :  nam  et  ovorum  decumum  mains  nascitur,  et  fluctus  decu- 


40 


OVIDI  TRISTIA. 


Cp.  ibid.  p.  4.  7  M.    For  the  conceit  of  this 


mns  fieri  maximns  dicitur.' 
line  compare — 

*  Of  all  the  days  that 's  in  the  week, 

I  dearly  love  but  one  day — 
and  that's  the  day  that  comes  betwixt 
a  Saturday  and  Monday.* 
1.  51.  'I  do  not  fear  death ;  but  the  kind  of  death  is  one  to  arouse 

pity.' 

1.  52.  demite,  imperat.  in  protasis  of  condit.  sentence  :  i.  47,  n. 

11-  53-56.  *  It  is  somewhat  when  falling  at  the  beck  of  fate  and  by  the 
sword  still  to  lay  down  one's  dying  frame  on  firm  earth,  and  to  give 
some  last  injunctions  to  one's  kinsfolk,  and  to  hope  for  burial,  and  not 
to  be  food  for  the  fishes  of  the  sea.* 

est  aliquid  =  it  is  something  worth  having ;  a  common  phrase 
with  Ovid:  cp.  H.  iii.  131  ;  iv.  29 ;  F.  vi.  27  ;  P.  ii.  7.  65 ;  8.  9. 

fate  and  ferro  are  instr.  ablatives.     For  a  fuller  explanation  sec 
Appendix. 

1.  55.  aliqua,  some  kind  of  instructions  however  hasty  and  inade- 
quate: Pont.  i.  I.  4,  'dumque  a/t'^uo,  quolibet  abde  loco  ;*  F.  iii.  598, 
•  aliquant  corpore  pressit  humum '  ('  dry  land  of  some  kind,'  even  though 
the  grave).  There  is  perhaps  a  specimen  of  such  last  instructions 
of  a  soldier  in  Prop.  i.  21,  where  they  are  given  by  the  dying  Callus, 
killed  in  the  Perusine  War,  to  a  comrade  to  carry  to  his  sister.  There 
may  be  a  reference  to  the  testamentum  in  proiinctu,  a  will  made  verbally 
by  soldiers  on  the  eve  of  battle  in  the  presence  of  three  or  four  witnesses, 
and  which  was  legally  valid. 

1.57.  ^nsite  =  etiamsi Jingitis :  1.47,11. 

1.  58.  hie,  here  on  the  high  seas. 

For  the  idea  of  the  punishment  of  a  ship's  crew  for  the  guilt  of 
one  cp.  Hor.  Od.  iii.  2.  26flf.;  Jonah  i.  14. 

1.  59.  superi-di  caeli,  supr.  i.  virides  =  di  maris,  the  gods  of  the 
green  sea  ('caerulei  numina  ponti,*  4.  25);  H.  5.  57,  'virides  Nereidas 
oro.'     *  Viridis  aqua  '  (of  the  sea>,  is  found  in  A.  A.  i.  402,  iii.  130. 

1.  62.  iussa,  emphatic,  what  Caesar  has  ordered  you  must  not  oppose : 
cp.  inf.  89.     See  what  St.  Paul  says.  Acts  xxvii.  24. 
feram,  jussive  subj.  depending  on  sinite. 

1.  63.  ♦  If  too  you  are  minded  to  destroy  me  with  that  punishment 
which  I  have  deserved,  still  remember  that,  even  though  Caesar's  self 
is  my  judge,  my  punishment  is  lighter  than  death.* 
quoque  introduces  a  fresh  thought. 

1.  67.  invidiosa ;  join  with  illi,  the  dat.  of  indirect  object  usual  with 
invidere,  standing  here  with  the  adjective,  which  is  passive  in  meaning. 


NOTES.     I.  11.  51-83. 


41 


« the  power  of  shedding  my  blood  is  not  an  object  worth  envying  him.* 
Invidiosa.  =  invi(iia  digna,  taking  '  invidia '  in  a  good  sense,  as  in  M.  vi. 
275,  *Et  mediam  tulerat  gressus  resupina  per  urbem  Invidiosa  suis,  at 
nunc  miseranda  vel  hosti;*  Prop.  ii.  i.  73,  'Maecenas  nostrae  pars  in- 
vidiosa  iuventae.'  (It  might  be  taken  in  the  bad  sense  of  'worth 
grudging  him.') 

1.  69.  puts,  I.  87,  n.,  in  Appendix. 

The  argument  is,  If  Caesar,  whom  I  did  injure,  did  not  kill  me,  you, 
whom  I  did  not  injure,  should  certainly  be  content  with  my  present 
state  of  misfortune. 

1.  71.  ut,  concessive,  sup.  43,  inf.  73,  7*4. 

1.  72.  See  Appendix. 

1.  73.  ferentibus,  'favouring  winds,'  is  after  Verg.  Geor.  ii.  31 1 ; 

Aen.  iii.  473.  , 

1.  76.  mutandis  mercibus,  dat.  of  the  work  contemplated:  'Mutare, 
of  a  merchant  bartering  his  wares,  occurs  in  Verg.  Eel.  iv.  39,  '  aec 
nautica  pinus  Mutabit  merces.* 

1.  77.  peto,  I.  87,  n.,  in  Appendix,     studiosus,  sc.  Htterarum. 
Athens,  the  most  famous  seat  of  learning  in  the  ancient  world,  was 
the  fashionable  educational  resort  of  young  Romans. 

1.  78.  Asia  Minor  was  celebrated  for  its  splendid  cities  (*  claras  Asiae 
urbes,'  Catull.  46.  6),  which  Josephus  reckoned  at  five  hundred.  These 
Ovid  had  already  visited  in  company  with  his  friend  Macer,  P.  ii.  10.  21, 
'  te  duce  magnificas  Asiae  perspeximus  urbes.'  The  construction  is, 
*  Non  (peto)  oppida  Asiae,  non  (peto)  loca  visa  prius,'  the  second  half 
of  the  line  being  added  as  a  further  explanation  of  the  first. 

The  somewhat  harsh  repetition  of  negatives  is  intended  to  lay  stress 
on  the  melancholy  nature  of  his  present  journey,  which  has  nothing  of 
pleasure  or  interest  for  its  object. 

1.  79.  The  constr.  is  non  ijroficiscor)  ut  .  .  ,  videam  ;  the  idea  of 
'going '  being  implied  in  peto.    The  ellipsis  is  rather  harsh. 

1.  80.  delicias  =  *  amusements.*  For  the  rough  and  wild  festivity  of 
Alexandria  Mr.  Roby  refers  to  Mayor  on  luv.  xv.  46.  Cp.  Mart.  iv.  42. 
3,  '  Niliacis  primum  puer  is  nascalur  in  oris :  Nequitias  tellus  scit  dare 

nulla  magis.'  .  1        •         •..       r 

iocose, '  gay.*    Alexandria  was  one  of  the  most  luxurious  cities  of 

the  ancient  world. 

1.  81.  quod,  '  whereas,'  R.  743-  ,  ^.  .         ^„„ 

possit,   hypothetical  subj.  with  a  suppressed   condition:  'Who 

could  believe  it  (if  he  were  asked)  ? ' 

1.  83.  obligor,  '  I  am  under  an  obligation  to  reach,*  i.  e.  I  am  com- 
pelled to  reach  (cp.  our  colloquialism  '  to  be  bound  to  do  a  thing  *). 


1 


42 


OVIDI  TRISTIA, 


Caesar's  sentence  had   rendered   the   obligation   of  reaching    Pontus 
imperative  upon  Ovid. 

laevi,  i.  e.  the  west,  which  to  one  entering  from  the  Propontis, 
and  looking  northward,  is  on  the  left :  inf.  8.  39  ;  4,  18  n. 

fera,  inhospitable  to  mariners  on  account  of  its  stormy  nature  and 
the  savageness  of  its  inhabitants;  inf.  10.  41,  n. 

1.  84.  quod  sit,  subj.,  because  this  is  the  burden  of  his  complaint. 

1.  85.  nescio  quo  in  orbe,  '  in  some  obscure  corner  of  the  world.* 

1.  86.  exilem, 'short,'  *I  make  my  travel  short  by  means  of  my 
prayers.'  Cp.  M.  vi.  143,  *  in  latere  exiles  digiti  pro  cruribus  haerent.* 
JSenec.  N.  Q.  i.  i,  *ignes  tenuissimi  iter  exile  designant.' 

1.  88.  prona,  'favourable.' 

1.  89.  magis  = '  potius,'  this  alternative  being  substituted  for  the 
former.  It  is  used  so  in  Lucr.  ii.  428,  869 ;  Catull.  Ixviii.  30 ;  Verg. 
Eel.  i.  II. 

iussae,  62. 

I.  90.  est  in  regione,  'the  place  is  part  of  my  punishment.*  Cp. 
iii.  10.  75  ff. 

1.  91.  corpora,  supr.  39,  n. 

1.  92.  Ausonia  was  originally  the  district  round  Beneventum  and 
Cales,  but  later  was  used  poetically  as  a  general  name  of  Italy. 

1.  95.  quae  damnaverit,  •  inasmuch  as  he  has  condemned  them,' 
subj.  of  attendant  circumstances,  R.  718, 

I.  96.  crimina,  'misdeeds,'  i.  23  n. 

fas  =  what  is  right,  in  the  sense  of  what  complies  with  the  divine 
laws ;  pium  in  the  sense  of  what  fulfils  perfectly  all  the  obligations  of 
mankind,  whether  to  relations,  fellow-men,  or  the  gods  (see  Nettleship, 
Lectures  and  Essays,  p.  104).  The  words  are  similarly  joined  in  M.  xv. 
867, '  quosque  alios  vati  fas  appellare  piumque  est.' 

1.  98.  facinus,  'wilful  guilt;'  his  constant  plea  in  self-defence  is  that 
his  guilt  was  not  wilful:  cp.  iii.  i.  52 ;  iv.  4.  44;  v.  2.  17;  xi.  17; 
P.  i.  7.  40. 

1.  99.  immo  ita  si  scitis,  i.e.  'immo  si  scitis  ita  (esse),'  'nay,  if 
you  know  that  this  is  so ;'  the  apodosis  of  this  long  conditional  sentence 
(Q9-104)  is  in  the  imperative,  105,  introduced  by  zia,  for  which  see 

R.  655. 

The  usual  explanation  (to  which  Mr.  Roby  inclines,  translating: 
*  Nay  I  will  go  so  far  as  this  =  only  {tfa)  if  you  do  know  it,'  etc.),  puts  a 
comma  at  i^a,  which  then  refers  forward  to  the  i^a  of  105,  the  constniction 
being  'immo  ita  parcite  divi  si  scitis,'  etc.,  but  (i)  this  awkwardly  splits 
np  99,  and  (2)  ?Va  is  unnecessary  on  account  of  the  ita  in  105. 
error,  '  my  mistake.'    See  Introduction  IV. 


NOTES.      I.  il.  84-109. 


43 


abstuUt,  carried  me  an  unwilling  agent  to  my  ruin,  repeated  in  ii. 
109.  The  expression  is  borrowed  from  Verg.  Ed.  viii.  42.  '  Ut  vidi,  ut 
perii,  ut  me  malus  abstulit  error '  (though  there  error ^'^  madness,'  asense 
inappropriate  in  the  passages  in  Ovid).  ^ 

1.  loi.  '  If  I  supported  that  House,  as  even  the  humblest  may  do. 

1.  T02.  The  order  is  Si  publica  iussa  Augusti  mihi  satis  {fiierunt), 
*if  the  state  legislation  of  Augustus  contented  me.'  For  the  omission 
oi  fuerunt  see  i.  1 7  n.     See  Appendix  on  this  line. 

1.  103.  dixi.  *  If  I  have  celebrated  the  happiness  of  the  age  beneath  his 
rule.'  He  means  in  such  passages  as  A.  A.  i.  177  ff-;  cp.  T.  ii.  61-62, 
'  quid  referam  libros  illos  quoque,  crimina  nostra,  Mille  locis  plenos 
nominis  esse  tui  ?'     For  dico  = '  cano '  cp.  inf.  7-  1 3  ;  M.  viii.  455. 

1.  104.  Caesaribus.  Gaius  and  Lucius  Caesar,  sons  of  Julia,  the 
daughter  of  Augustus,  who  died  respectively  in  A.  D.  4  and  A.  D.  2,  and 
Tiberius,  and  his  sons  Germanicus  and  Drusus.     Cp.  ii.  229  ;  iv.  2.  i.^ 

-que,  which  properly  should  be  attached  to  the  first  word  in  its 
clause,  is  often,  as  here,  appended  to  the  second  (cp.  F.  iii.  16.  128. 
348)  or  even  third  (T.  iv.  i.  34.  40,  74?  v.  jo.  40)  by  the  poets, 
especially  in  the  pentameter  after  quadrisyllable  words  for  metrical 
convenience. 

1.  106.  iinda,  supr.  34  n. 

1.  109.  casu  is  opposed  to  vos,  which,  to  bring  out  the  contrast  forcibly, 
is  put  in  the  unusual  position  preceding  sed.  This  is  no  chance  work,  it 
kyoti  who  are  bringing  aid.  (This  is  better  than  to  stop  non  casu  vos, 
j^t/ with  Giithling,  which  (i)  introduces  an  awkward  metrical  division, 
and  (2)  marks  the  contrast  less  emphatically.) 

With  casu  supply  'effectum  est.' 

sub  condicione, '  invoked  on  these  terms,'  on  the  condition  that 
what  I  have  said  is  true.  .$"7/^  =  'subject  to,'  of  an  accompanying  condi- 
tion ;  as  in  the  phrases'  sub  pacto,'  '  sub  poena,'  'sub  legibus'  (Tac.  A.  i. 
17).  Cp.  F.  iv.  320,  '  accipe  sub  certa  condicione  preces.'  Liv.  vi.  40. 
8   *sub  condicione  nos  reficietis  decumum  tribunos;'  ibid.  xxi.  12.  4. 

El.  in. 

A  description  of  his  departure  from  Rome. 


Summary.— I  weep  still  when  I  think  of  my  last  night  in  Rome 
(1-4).  The  time  was  come  for  me  to  leave  Italy  ;  I  had  made  no  pre- 
parations, but  was  as  one  thunderstruck  (5-12).  At  length,  however,  I 
nei-ved  myself  to  bid  farewell  to  my  friends  and  wife  ;  my  daughter  was 
absent  in  Africa.     There  was  lamentation  everywhere;  the  scene  was 


1 


44 


OVIDI   TRISTIA. 


like  some  tumultuous  funeral,  or  the  sack  of  Troy  (13-26).  Late  at 
night  I  bade  farewell  to  the  Capitol  and  its  gods,  protesting  that  my 
guilt  was  not  wilfully  incurred,  and  begging  that  they  would  mitigate 
Caesar's  hatred  (27-40).  The  same  prayer  was  repeated  by  my  wife  as 
she  lay  prostrate  and  sobbing  before  the  gods  of  our  hearth  (41-46). 
Morning  came  and  the  time  for  departure;  yet  I  exhausted  every  possible 
excuse  to  delay  it  (47-60).  •  Why  should  I  hurry,'  I  said,  *  I  who  am 
leaving  Rome  for  Scythia,  and  who  shall  never  see  again  my  wife,  my 
household,  and  my  friends?'  (61-68).  I  gave  one  last  embrace  to  all 
I  loved,  and  as  the  morning  star  rose,  I  tore  myself  away  with  a  pang 
as  though  I  were  being  rent  in  pieces  (69-76).  Then  my  friends  raised 
a  wail,  and  my  wife,  clinging  to  me,  protested  that  she  would  accom- 
pany me  (77-86).  But  this  might  not  be.  She  yielded,  and  I  left  (87- 
90).  Of  her  heartbroken  grief  for  me  I  have  been  told  :  I  pray  that  she 
may  live  on  to  comfort  and  protect  me,  though  so  far  away  (91-102). 


1.  3.  repeto,  supr.  i.  23  n. 
V  1.  6.  finibus  eztremae  A.  =  *  extremis  finibus  A.'  a  hypallage.      For 
Ausonia;  see  on  ii.  92. 

1.  7.  satis  apta  =  Td  a\ts  irpoffrjteovra  (the  want  of  the  definite  article 
in  Latin  is  clear  here).  *  I  had  neither  the  time  nor  the  heart  to  get  me 
suitable  equipment.' 

parandl  is  genitive  of  definition. 

1.  8.  pectora  (poet.  pi.  2.  39  n.),  'my  faculties,'  as  in  M.  xiii.  368, 
'pectora  sunt  potiora  manu.' 

1.  9.  The  construction  is  '  non  mihi  servorum  (cura  fuit),  comites  non 
cura  legendi  (fuit),  non  aptae  profugo  vestis  opisve  (cura)  fuit.'  See  R, 
L.  Gr.  ii.  p.  Ixvii. 

L  13.  '  Yet  when  my  very  grief  dispelled  this  cloud  upon  my  soul.' 
animi  nubem,  a  bold  expression  (cp.  P.  ii.  i.  5,  *  tandem  aliquid 
pulsa  curarum  nube  serenum  Vidi'),  rather  different  from  *nox  animi,' 
M.  vi.  652,  which  means  the  *  blinding  darkness,'  i.  e.  blindness  of  Tereus ; 
whereas  here  the  metaphor,  if  expanded,  is  of  grief  obscuring  the  mind 
•  as  a  cloud  obscures  the  serenity  of  the  sky.  The  idea  that  there  is  a 
point  at  which  overmastering  sorrow,  which  has  paralysed  the  faculties, 
becomes  so  excessive  that  from  its  own  intensity  it  sets  them  free,  is 
found  also  in  If.  x.  33,  'nee  languere  diu  patitur  dolor;'  M.  v.  509, 
'Mater  ad  auditas  stupuit  ceu  saxea  voces,  Attonitaeque  diu  similis  fuit. 
utque  do/ore  Pulsa  gravi  gravis  est  amentia^  The  image  of  the  cloud  of 
sorrow  is  found  also  in  v.  5.  22  *  pars  vitae  tristi  cetera  nube  vacet ;'  cp. 
inf.  91 ;  Verg.  Aen.  xii.  669. 


NOTES.     I.  iii.  3-25. 


45 


t  14.  convaluere,  *  recovered  strength.*  ,     .    .  tt 

1.  16.  modo  de  multis  =  *demodomultis;'  H.  xiv.  i. '  mittit  Hyper- 

mnestra  de  tot  modo  fratribus  uni.' 

unus  et  alter,  '  one  or  two.*  He  constantly  complams  of  his 
desertion  by  his  friends  :  inf.  5.  33 ;  9-  5  ;  "i-  5-  lo-  ^>'^^  ^^  attracted 
to  the  number  of  alter. 

1   17    flentem   flens   acrius   ipsa.     P.  i.  4-  53,  '  et  narrare  meos 
flenti  flens  ipse  labores.'     Verg.  Aen.  ii.  279.  '  ultro  flens  ipse  videbar 

Compellare  virum.' 

1.  18.  usque,  '  continually.' 

indignas  genas,  '  those  cheeks  that  never  should  have  suffered 
so  '  Ovid's  metaphor  has  been  amplified  by  Cokain  into  a  simile  with 
characteristic  redundance  (Tragedy  of  Ovid,  Act  v.  Sc.  i),  ;  No  April 
shower  ever  fell  so  sweetly  As  she  doth  weep  over  her  sister. 

1.  19.  nata.     See  Introduction  I.  .  ,  .  T,.,r,o^ 

Libycis,  the  province  of  Africa,  was  a  senatorial  provmce  whither 
she  had  doubtless  accompanied  her  husband  (a  not  uncommon  pract^e- 
Fumeaux,  Tac.  A.  iii.  33-  2),  who,  as  a  senator,  had  gone  m  an  official 
capacity.  Her  husband  is  mentioned  by  Seneca,  Dial.  11.  17,  m  senatu 
flentem  vidimus  Fidum  Cornelium,  Nasonis  Ovidii  generuni. 

diversa,  in  the  opposite  quarter  of  the  world.  Note  the 
piling  up  of  words  to  express  her  absence,  procul  Libycis  aberat 

sub  =  Mn  the  neighbourhood  of,'  a  little  less  definite  than  in  with 
the  ablative :  cp.  Verg.  Aen.  v.  323. 

1  21.    quocumque   adspiceres,  'look  wherever  one  might.      Ihis 
subjunctive  is  really  hypothetical,   and  its  subject  is  the  condition 

understood  ;  R.  646.     See  on  2.  23  in  Appendix. 

1   22    '  There  was  within  my  house  [funerals  usually  takmg  place  out 

of  doo^]  the  semblance  of  no  silent  funeral.'  By '  funus  taciturn  is 
meant  an  ordinary  {translaticium)  funeral  of  the  lower  classes  without 
any  pomp  or  show  of  mourners,  and  the  cornua,  tubae,  sndtthanes  of 
the  noisy  funerals  of  the  great.  See  Rich.  s.  v.  Praeficae.  Cp.  v.  i .  14, 
*  efficio  tacitum  ne  mihi  funus  eat.'  . 

1  23.  The  expression  is  quite  general :  the  sorrow  was  universally 
shared  by  men,  women,  and  children.  For  meo  funere,  causal  abl.,  cp. 
Cic  Balb   25.  56,  '  homines  alienis  bonis  maerentes.' 

pueri  =  - slaves'  (CatuU.  xxvii.  i),  for  Ovid  had  no  sons. 

1.  24.  angulus,  Cokain,  Tragedy  of  Ovid,  Act  i.  Sc.  i.  *  she  .  .  .  glo- 
rifies This  angle  of  the  world.' 

I.  25.  Imitated  from  Verg.  Eel.  1.  23,  « sic  parvis  coniponere  magna 
solebam;'  G.  iv.  176,  *si  parva  licet  componere  magnis.' 


46 


OriDI  TRISTIA. 


f 


parvis  (against  parvo)  is  supported  by  inf.  6.  28,  A.  A.  iii.  525, 
'qiiisvetat  a  magnis  ad  res  exempla  minores  Sumere?*  The  horrors 
of  a  town  under  sack  is  a  stock  illustration  (see  Ellis,  CatuU.  Ixii.  24 ; 
Prop.  iv.  (v.)  8.  56,  *spectaclum  capta  nee  minus  urbefuit'):  Ramsay 
aptly  quotes  Cic.  2  in  Verr.  iv.  §  52,  *  quem  concursum  in  oppido  factum 
putatis  ?  quem  clamorem  ?  quem  porro  fletum  mulierum  ?  qui  viderent, 
equum  Troianum  introductum,  urbem  captam  esse  dicerent.' 

1.  26.  cum  caperetur,  '  Troy  being  captured/  subj.  of  attendant  cir- 
cumstance, R.  722.     Cp.  xi.  3. 

1.  27.  Cp.  H.  xiv.  33,  *  iamque  cibo  vinoque  graves  somnoque  lace- 
bant,  Securumque  quies  alta  per  Aigos  erat.' 

1.  29.  ad  banc, '  by  her  light.*  Cp.  M.  iv.  99,  '  quam  procul  ad  lunae 
radios  Babylonia  Thisbe  vidit ; '  Ibid.  220, '  bis  sex  Leucothoen  famulas 
ad  lumina  cernit ; '  F.  i.  438,  *  omnibus  ad  lunae  lumina  risus  erat ; '  R. 
801  b.  L.  Gr.  1820,  where,  however,  the  heading  '  presence  after  motion  * 
indicates  rather  the  origin  of  the  use,  and  hence  is  not  exactly  applicable 
here. 

Capitolia,  poetic  pi.  ii.  39  n. 

1.  30.  frustra,  because  they  did  not  protect  me,  as  neighbouring 
deities  should  have  done.  Cp.  Cokain,  Act  ii.  Sc.  i,  *  Enjoy'd  the  gen- 
erous Ovid  his  prime  youth.  And  flourish'd  again  in  his  own  house 
Adjoining  unto  our  triumphant  capital,'  etc. 

1.  33.  Quirini,  F.  ii.  475,  *  Proxima  lux  vacua  est :  at  tertia  dicta 
Quirino.     Qui  tenet  hoc  nomen,  Romulus  ante  fuit.' 

1.  34.  *  Allow  me  to  have  said  farewell  to  you  for  ever.' 

1.  35.  And  though  I  am  wise  too  late  in  entreating  now  your  guard- 
ianship (since  had  I  done  so  before  you  would  have  saved  me  from  this 
trouble).  Our  proverb  is  *to  shut  the  stable  door  after  the  horse  is 
stolen.' 

1.  36.  *  Still  free  me  in  my  exile  from  the  hatreds  of  my  fellows/  i.  e. 
especially  of  Augustus,  though  he  is  also  possibly  thinking  of  his  private 
enemy,  the  subject  of  the  Ibis,  to  whom  iii.  11,  iv.  9,  and  v.  8  are 
addressed. 

1.  37.  caelesti  viro  =  'deo*  (40),  Augustus. 

1.  38.  pro  culpa,  'that  he  may  not  regard  it  as  a  crime  instead  of  a  fault  :* 
the  culpa  is  the  error  of  the  preceding  line.     Cp.  iv.  4.  47,  Introd.  p.  liL 

1.  42.  medios,  *  in  the  middle,'  when  half  uttered. 

1.43.  The  'Lares'  were  the  deified  spirits  of  departed  ancestors, 
who  protected  the  whole  abode,  while  the  '  Penates '  were  the  guardians 
of  the  *  penu  '  (store-room)  and  *  penetralia.'  (See  Kennedy's  Vergil, 
pp.  606  and  616  ;  Mommsen,  R.  H.  i.  173.)  Thus  the  superi  (41),  the 
celestial  gods  addressed  by  Ovid  himself,  are  contrasted  with  the  Lara 


NOTES.    I.  iii.  26-48. 


47 


addressed  by  his  wife,  as  the  superi  were  contrasted  with  the  vtrzdes 

tUit  supr.  ii.  59. 

For  passis  see  i.  12  n. 

adstrata,  a  rare  word,  found  also  in  M.  ii.  343  (there  followed 
by  a  dat.),  *  nocte  dieque  vocant  adsternunturque  sepulcro.' 

I.  44.  exstinctos,  in  time  of  mourning  the  fire  on  the  hearth  was  let 
out  •  F  ii   564,  *  ture  vacent  arae  stentque  sine  igne  foci.' 

Ifocos  is  either  (i)  poetic  ^\.=focufn,  the  hearth  situated  in  the 
atrium  by  the  altar  of  the  household  gods  (Rich,  s.v./ocus  l),  or  (2) 
focos^' arsis;  a  sense  common  in  the  poets  (see  Nettleship  on  Verg. 
Aen.  xii.  118;  cp.  F.  vi.  301,  *at  focus  a  flammis  et  quod  fovet  onama 
dictus,'  though  etymologically  the  word  is  really  connected  with  lax 
and  *  facies,'  not  with  *  foveo') ;  then  there  would  be  more  than  one 
altar  to  the  household  gods. 

1.45.  adversos,  *  which  faced  her.*    Prop.  iv.  (v.)  ll.  85,     sen 
tamen  adversum  mutarit  ianua  lectum.'     Supr.  ii.  30.  ,      ,      ,  , 

1.46.  deplorato  =  'mortuo/  '  deplorare '  =  *  to  mourn  for  the  dead. 
Transl.,  *  lost,'  almost  our  *  lamented.' 

^.  47.  praecipitata,  *  night  in  her  hurrying  course  down  the  sky: 
Verg  Aen.  ii.  9,  '  et  iam  nox  umida  caelo  Praecipitat.'  The  word  is 
middle  in  meaning,  like  '  dividor'  infr.  73,  '  avelli,'  81,  and  the  pf.  part. 
is  here  used  for  the  present,  there  being  no  pres.  part.  pass,  in  Latm. 
See  Madv.  L.  Gr.  431.  6 ;  Conington  on  G.  i.  293. 

L  48  'The  Arcadian  Bear  had  been  turned  round  from  its  centre,  1.  e. 
on  its  own  axis,  had  completed  its  revolution.  The  axis  is  regarded  as 
the  basis  from  {ab)  which  the  turning  takes  place.  The  axis  roymd 
which  the  Bear  turns  may  fairly  be  called  suus,  though  outsde  the  con- 
stellation itself.  For  the  connexion  of  the  North  Pole  with  the  Bear  cp. 
ii  IQO,  *Parrhasiae  gelido  virginis  axe  premor,'  and  in.  2.  2,  'quaeque 
Lycaonio  terra  sub  axe  iacet.'  [Why  should  not  the  axis  round  which 
the  Bear  turns  be  called  stms,  etc.?  The  axis  of  the  Bear  ..in  fact 
(nearly)  the  fixed  point  or  pole  round  which  it  appears  to  turn.— H.  J.K.J 
Parrhasis  =  Arcadian,  from  mount  Parrhasius  in  Arcadia. 

The  Arcadian  bear  is  Callisto,  daughter  of  Lycaon,  king  of  Arcadia, 
who  became  one  of  the  attendant  nymphs  of  Artemis.  Her  beauty  won 
the  favour  of  Zeus,  by  whom  she  became  the  mother  of  Areas.  In  con- 
sequence  of  this  violation  of  her  vow  of  chastity  she  was  driven  from  the 
company  of  Artemis,  and  was  transformed  into  a  bear  by  the  jealous 
Hera  In  this  shape  she  wandered  for  a  long  period,  until  she  was  met 
by  her  son  Areas,  who  not  recognising  her  was  about  to  kill  her.  when 
^us  averted  his  spear,  and  planted  them  bnth  as  constellations  m  the 
sky     Areas  became  Bootes,  Arcturus,  or  Arctophylax  (the  guardian  of 


48 


OVIDI  TRISTIA. 


the  bear,  infr.  4. 1 ;  11.15).  Hera,  still  raging  with  jealousy,  induced 
Tethys,  the  goddess  of  Ocean,  to  grant  that  her  rival  should  never  be 
suffered  to  cool  herself  in  the  waters  of  the  sea  (supr.  2.  29  n.).  The 
story,  a  favourite  one  with  Ovid  (cp.  inf.  4.  i  ;  n.  15  J  ii-  ^9^*  i"*  ^^ 
2  ;  4.  47  ;  10.  3 ;  n.  8;  iv.  3.  i.  ff.;  v.  3.  7),  is  told  in  M.  ii.  466  flf. 
The  Greek  sailors  steered  by  the  greater,  the  Phoenician  by  the  lesser 
Bear  (also  called  *  Cynosura  '),  iv.  3.  i.ff. 

-  1.  55.  On  leaving  the  house  a  Roman  avoided  touching  the  threshold, 
for  to  stumble  there  was  a  most  imlucky  omen;  cp.  H.  xiii.  87 
(Laodamia  to  Protesilaus) : 

*  Cum  foribus  velles  ad  Troiam  exire  paternis, 

pes  tuus  offenso  limine  signa  dedit. 
ut  vidi,  ingemui,  tacitoque  in  pectore  dixi : 

"  Signa  reversuri  sint,  precor,  ista  viri,"  * 
where  Laodamia  tries  to  avert  the  omen  by  accepting  it  as  a  good  sign. 
(Cp.  the  story  of  William  the  Conqueror's  landing  in  England ;  Free- 
man, Old  English  History,  p.  317.)    So  Tibullus  i.  3.  19  (describing  his 
disinclination  to  leave  home) : 

*  O  quotiens  ingressus  iter  mihi  tristia  dixi 

offensum  in  porta  signa  dedisse  pedem.* 

M.  X.  452 : 

*Ter  pedis  offensi  signo  est  revocata.* 
-^    1.  57.  vale,  regarded  as  an  indeclinable  subst.,  as  often  in  Ovid  ;  cp^ 
M.  X.  62,  '  Supremumque  vale ; '  H.  xiii.  14,  '  illud  . . .  vale.' 

1.  58.  summus  is  less  common  than  '  supremus'  in  the  i^ense  of  'last.' 
^  1.  60.  pignora  cara,  *  the  pledges  of  affection,'  commonly  used  of 
children,  is  here  applied  to  his  wife  and  friends  in  general. 
^    1.  62.  mora  =  reason  for  delay. 

1.  64.  membra  domus,  not  my  friends  and  servants  (Minelli),  but,  as 
is  seen  by  the  separate  mention  of  sodales  in  the  next  line,  my  near 
relatives,  i.  e.  wife  and  daughter,  and  my  slaves  {piuri  23). 

1.  65.  fratemo  more,  as  though  you  had  been  my  brothers ;  supr. 

1. 100. 

sodales,  properly  the  members  of  a  '  collegium,*  is  constantly,  as 
here,  used  metaphorically  to  indicate  any  close  friendship  (Reid  oa 
Pro  Sulla,  §  7) ;  infr.  7.  10. 

1. 66.  The  devoted  friendship  of  Theseus,  king  of  Athens,  and 
Pirithous  of  Larissa  was  proverbial.  When  Pirithous  went  to  the 
infernal  regions  to  carry  off  Proserpine,  of  whom  he  was  enamoured, 
Theseus  accompanied  him  ;  and  though  Theseus  was  let  go  again,  Piri- 
thous was  compelled  by  Pluto  to  remain  there.  Infr.  5.  19 ;  v.  4.  a6  ; 
tior.  Od.  iii.  4.  80. 


NOTES,     I.  iii.  55-84- 


49 


J\  68    in  lucre  est,  'is  so  much  gain,'  counts  in  the  category  of 
gain.     Cp.  Ter.  Ph.  ii.  \.  16,  'quidquid  praeter  spem  eveniat,  omne  id 

deputare  esse  in  lucro.'    ^  j  j         ^ 

1.  70.  animo  proxima  quaeque  meo,  'what  is  nearest  and  dearest 

to  my  heart.'  See  v.  2.  39, '  me  miserum,  quid  agam,  si  proxima  quaeque 

relinquunt?'  .  ,  ▼      -r 

1  71  The  'Stella  Veneris,'  called  Vesper  as  the  evening,  and  Luciler 
as  the  morning  star,  was  the  star  which  guided  Aeneas  to  Italy  ((Ion. 
Aen.  ii.  801 );  is  it  fanciful  to  suppose  that  Ovid,  who  is  full  of  Vergilian 
reminiscences,  is  covertly  contrasting  its  office  here  as  ushermg  in  his 

own  departure  ?  ,  -r  1      • 

1  73  '  I  separate  myself  from  them  even  as  though  I  were  leavmg  my 
limbs,  and  it  seemed  as  if  a  part  were  being  sundered  from  its  proper 
{suo)  body ;  such  was  the  anguish  of  Mettus  when,  as  punishment  for  his 
treachery,  he  felt  the  horses  driven  this  way  and  that.' 

In  73   74  he  expresses  his  anguish  at  the  separation  from  his    domus 
et  fidae  dulcia  membra  domus'  (he  is  fond  of  this  image  of  the  body,  cp. 
iv    10   48,  'dulcia  convictus  membra  fuere  mei'):  this  is  like  a  part 
being  torn  from  the  whole  body  (in  2.  44  he  speaks  of  his  wife  as  his 
'  dimidia  pars ').     Thus  there  is  a  compressed  simile,  and  relinquam  is 
a  conditional  subj.  whose  apodosis -which  would  be  '  dividar    if  ex- ^ 
pressed-is  suppressed  in  a  sentence  of  comparison,  R.  660.     This  idea 
once  conceived,  he  goes  on  in  his  usual  manner  to  amplify  it,  by  addmg 
a  fresh  simile,  that  of  Mettus  Fufetius  (the  name  should  be  Mettus  not 
Mettius.  which  would  be  the  name  of  a  tribe  (Jahn),  cp.  liher  de  pratn. 
Wordsworth,  Fr.  and  Sp.  p.  380),  an  Alban  general  in  the  tinie  of 
Tullus  Hostilius,  who,  for  having  treacherously  broken  a  treaty  with  the 
Romans,  was  fastened  to  two  chariots,  which  were  then  driven  opposite 
ways,  and  was  thus  torn  to  pieces,  Liv.  i.  28.    The  fate  of  Mettus  is 
alluded  to  in  Ibis  279,  '  Vel  tua,  ne  poenae  genus  hoc  cognoverit  unus, 
Viscera  diversis  scissa  ferantur  equis.'     See  Verg.  Aen.  viu.  642  (a  pas- 
sage which  Ovid  had  no  doubt  in  his  mind)  : 

*  Haud  procul  inde  citae  Mettum  in  diversa  quadrigae 
distulerant— at  tu  dictis,  Albane,  maneres! 
raptabatque  viri  mendacis  viscera  Tullus 
per  silvam,  et  sparsi  rorabant  sanguine  vepres. 

1.  77.  turn  vero  =  rhn  817. 
^    1.  81.  aveUi,  supr.  47  n.  j  r     _^ 

1.  83.  '  For  me  as  well  as  thee  the  journey  has  been  prepared,  for  me 

as  well  as  thee  the  world's  end  has  room.' 

1.  84.  sarcina  is  properly  the  soldier's  pack,  consisting  of  corn  for  a 

E 


5° 


OriDI  TRISTIA. 


V 


i 


fortnight,  tools,  utensils,  etc.,  which  he  carried  with  him  on  the  march, 
Cp.  i.  126. 

1.  86.  pietas,  '  my  love,'  the  dutiful  affection  of  a  wife  for  her 
husband. 

1.  88.  dare  manus  is  the  regular  phrase  of  a  conquered  soldier 
extending  his  hands  to  his  conqueror  to  bind  in  confession  of  his  defeat. 
Cp.  P.  i.  2.  48,  *  aut  dare  captivas  ad  fera  vincla  manus.' 

victas  utilitate  is  added  in  further  explanation  of  the  metaphor, 
which  occurs  again  H.  iv.  14.  F.  iii.  688, '  Evictas  precibus  vix  dedit 
ilia  manus,'  ibid.  vi.  800. 

1.  89.  sive  (more  often  'sive  potius')  is  used  to  correct  the  previous 
assertion. 

Translate:  *I  pass  out,  or  rather  it  was  a  being  borne  to  burial, 
though  no  dead  body  was  there.'  For  the  oxymoron,  by  which  sine 
funere  ferri='  c{VL2ivci\\s  essem  vivus  efiferri,'  cp.  CatuU.  Ixiv.  83,  'funera 
Cecropiae  nee  funera.' 

funus,  in  the  sense  of  a  dead  body,  is  common  in  poetry ;  see 
Prop.  i.  17.  8,  'haecine  parva  meum  funus  harena  teget  ?'  Verg.  Aen.  ix. 
491  ;  Mayor  on  luv.  x.  259. 

(Others  understand  sittefunere,  '  without  a  funeral.*     Cp.  supr.  22.) 

1.  90.  hirta,  •  unshaven.'  The  word  means '  shaggy,'  and  is  a  favourite 
one  with  Ovid,  who  applies  it  to  the  shaggy  hair  on  a  man's  body  (M. 
xiii.  849),  the  shaggy  hair  of  Fames  (M.  viii.  792),  the  stiff  grey  hair  of 
an  old  woman  (M.  x.  425),  the  bristles  of  a  wild  boar  (A.  A.  i.  762, 
Halieut.  60),  and  the  hair  of  she-goats  (M.  xiii.  926). 

1.  91.  dolore,  causal  abl.,  with  amens. 

At  this  point  he  departed ;  the  rest  of  the  scene  he  knows  only  from 
hearsay.  Graeber  (i.  p.  iv.),  comparing  with  this  6.  7.  ff. ;  7.  i.  ff.  and  23  ; 
9.  65.  ff.,  shows  that  he  probably  received  more  than  one  letter  from 
home  on  the  course  of  his  jouniey,  from  which  he  would  have  learnt 
these  particulars. 

^Translate:  ' Distraught  with  grief,  they  tell  me,  and  with  darkness 
rising  o'er  her  eyes,  she  fell  headlong  in  a  swoon  in  the  midst  of  the 

house.' 

*  Tenebrae,'  of  the  dimness  which  overspreads  the  eyes  of  one  fainting, 
occurs  also  in  M.  ii.  181  ;  H.  xiii.  23,  and  seems  meant  to  express  the 
Homeric  oKorm  oaat  Kokvrfty,  though   there  the  darkness  is  that  of 

death. 

^  1.  92.  semi&nimis,  synizesis,  as  inf.  10.  9,  Cenchreis,  R.  44. 

1.  93.  foedatis  pulvere,  cp.  Verg.  Aen.  xii.  99,  '  foedare  in  pulvere 

crinis.' 
L  97.  natae,  her  daughter  by  her  former  husband,  who  married  P. 


NOTES,    I.  iii.  86 — iv.  3. 


51 


SuiUius  Rufus.  See  Introduction  I.  p.  xvil  The  sing,  corf  us  jomed 
with  the  two  substantives  nataeque  virique  must  not,  m  a  poet,  be 
pressed,  as  being  mconsistent ;  and  grammatically  it  is  easy  to  supply 
corpus  with  natae, 

1.  98.  rogos  is  the  subject  of  *  habere.' 

I.  99.  For  the  omission  of  *  et '  before  *  moriendo,'  and  the  use  of 
*  que '  in  the  third  member  of  the  sentence,  a  not  uncommon  usage,  see 

R.  864  c.  ,  .     ,  .  11 

1.  loi.  tiUenint,  •  have  brought  it  about.'     'Ferre'  is  thus  specially 

used  of  fate :  Verg.  Aen.  2.  34  ;  11.  232.  ^ 

^1.  102.  vivat  ut  =  *vivat,  et  ita  quidem  vivat,  ut  absentem  sublevet ; 
for  the  omission  of '  ita '  with  the  restrictive  subj.  see  on  i .  88.     Notice 
the  studied  delicacy  of  the  repetition  oi  vivat  \  his  first  thought  is  for 
his  wife,  that  her  life  may  be  prolonged ;  his  second  only  for  himself,  that 
it  may  be  prolonged  in  order  that  she  may  protect  his  interests. 

El.  IV. 

This  poem  describes  a  storm  which  Ovid  encountered  on  the  Ionian 
sea  (cp.  El.  ii).  He  probably  sailed  from  Brundisium  (Masson,  Vit.  Ov. 
p.  105,  ed.  Fischer),  and  this  storm  took  place  on  the  sea  between  Brun- 
disium and  Illyricum  (cp.  19).  He  left  Rome  at  the  end  of  A.  D.  9 
(Wartenberg,  p.  23),  probably  at  the  beginning  of  November,  as  is  seen 
f^om  lines  1-2  of  this  poem,  which  speak  of  the  (evening)  settmg  of 
Arcturus,  which  took  place  at  Rome  about  the  fourth  of  November 
(Diet.  A.  159  a). 

Summary.— It  is  winter,  but  I  am  compelled  to  sail  the  seas.  Alas  1 
by  what  a  storm  is  my  vessel  tossed  I  the  very  ship  seems  to  groan  m 
sympathy  with  my  woes  (i-io).  The  steersman  is  powerless  to  direct, 
and  is  forced  to  let  the  vessel  go  her  own  wild  way.  I  still  see  Italy  on 
the  left :  oh.  that  the  ship  would  cease  from  making  for  the  land 
that  is  forbidden  me  1  (11-22).  As  I  speak  the  storm  increases.  Spare 
me,  ye  gods  of  the  sea,  and  save  me  from  death  (23-28). 


i 


1.  I.  custos  B.  ursae,  3.  A%  n.  Erymanthis  =  Arcadian,  from 
Erymanthus,  the  name  (i)  of  a  range  of  mountains  m  the  north  of 
Arcadia,  and  (2)  of  a  river  which  rises  in  them. 

1.  3.  The  Ionian  sea  (^Uvios  kSXitos)  is  properly  the  sea  between  Epirus 
and  Italy  at  the  mouth  of  the  Hadriatic,  though  it  is  used  somewhat 
loosely  sometimes  so  as  to  comprehend  the  Hadriatic  itself:  Serv.  Verg. 

S  2 


r 


5^ 


OVIDI   TRISTIA, 


Aen.  iii.  211/  sciendum  Ionium  sinum  esse  inmensum  ab  Ionia  usque  ad 
Siciliam,  et  huius  partes  esse  Adriaticum  Achaicum  Epiroticum.* 

1.  4.  nostra  sponte,  modal  abl. 

audaces  metu  (supr.  3.  89),  oxymoron.  Contrast  the  weakness 
of  the  imitation  by  Stat.  Theb.  i.  373,  '  dat  stimulos  animo  vis  maesta 
timoris.' 

1.  5.  me  miserum.  The  ace.  of  exclamation  is  really  the  object  of 
some  verb  imderstood — me  miserum  {vides). 

1.  6.  *  And  thrown  up  from  the  depths  of  the  sea  the  sand  is  a  seething 
mass,'  a  reminiscence  of  Verg.  Geor.  i.  327,  '  fervetque  fretis  spirantibus 
aequor,*  and  Aen.  i.  125/imis  Stagna  refusa  vadis/  to  which  latter 
passage  the  reading  vadis  here  is  probably  due. 

1.  7.  monte  inferior,  2. 19. 

1.  8.  pictos  deos,  i.e.  the  *  tutela*  of  the  ship  (cp.  infr.  10.  i);  which 
was  a  painting  or  image,  on  the  poop  {puppis\  of  some  god  or  gods, 
hero  or  heroes,  under  whose  special  protection  the  ship  was  supposed  to 
be,  and  to  whom  supplication  was  offered  in  storms,  and  expiation  was 
made,  if  anything  ill-omened  was  done.  For  more  than  one  such  tutelary 
god  see  Hor.  Od.  i.  14.  10,  *non  tibi  sunt  integra  lintea,  Non  di,  quos 
iterum  pressa  voces  malo.'  Pers.  vi.  29,  where  a  man,  shipwrecked  on 
the  Ionian  sea,  *  iacet  ipse  in  litore  et  una  Ingentes  de  puppe  dei^  Here, 
however,  the  pi.  is  poetic  (2.  39,  n.),  for  the  'tutela'  of  Ovid's  ship 
was  one  goddess  only,  Minerva,  as  we  learn  from  10.  i.  In  Verg. 
Aen.  X.  171,  'aurato  fulgebat  Apolline  puppis,'  Apollo  is  the  ship's 

*  tutela.' 

1.  9.  pinea  texta,  cp.  CatuU.  Ixiv.  9,  '  Ipsa  levi  fecit  volitantem 
flamine  currum  Pinea  coniungens  inflexae  texta  carinae.'     *  Texere '  and 

*  intexere '  are  ship-building  terms  expressing  the  manner  in  which  the 
pine-planking  of  a  ship's  sides  is  fitted  compactly  together,  as  the 
threads  are  woven  by  the  loom.  (The  metaphor  is  as  old  as  Homer ;  see 
Merry's  Odyssey,  Appendix  I.  pp.  536  and  538.)  The  texta  here  seem 
to  include  both  the  upright  ribs  of  the  ship's  sides  and  the  horizontal 
planks  supported  by  them.  It  means  the  planking  of  the  deck  in  F.  i. 
506,  *  Pinea  non  sano  ter  pede  texta  ferit.' 

pulsi,  sc.  sunt.      See  on  i.  1 7. 

stridore,  modal  ablative  used  with  poetic  licence ;  cp.  Verg.  Aen. 
viii.  215,  'Discessu  mugire  boves,  atque  omne  querellis  Inpleri  nemus, 
et  colles  clamore  relinqui.* 

1. 10.  ingemit  expressively  describes  the  creaking  of  the  timbers  in  a 
heavy  sea. 

nostria  malis  is  dat.  of  indirect  object  with  ingemit ^  *  groans 

over  my  woes.' 


NOTES,     I.  IV.  4-28. 


S3 


1.  II.  confessus,  'betraying,'  like  * fassus,'  ii.  525.  *  «tq"e  sedet  vultu 

fassus  Telamonius  iram.'  ,  .     .    ^  j  r     ♦!,« 

1   13   rector,  properly  the  helmsman  of  a  ship,  is  here  used  lor  the 

driver  of  a  chariot,  as  auriga,  16,  which  property  means  a  driver,  is  used 

for  the  helmsman.  „     r     «u    ^ 

1  14.  cervicis  rigidae,  gen.  of  quality  with  ^^«<?.  We  talk  of  a  hard- 
mouthed  '  horse  (Am.  ii.  9.  30,'durior  oris  equus'),  but  of  a  *  stitt- 

necked' generation.  1    ju 

1  16  aurigam,  metaphorically  for  the  helmsman  of  a  ship,  had  been 
used  already  by  an  eariier  poet,  probably  Varro  Atacinus  (m  a  line 
quoted  by  Charisius,  Ins.  Gr.  iv.  4.  275  K;  Donatus,  Ars  Gram.  111.  6. 
399  K. ;  Pompeius  Comm.  305  K.),  as  a  stock  example  of  the  meta- 
phorical  application  of  the  name  of  one  animate  thing  to  another: 

'Tiphyn  aurigam  celeris  fecere  carinae;' 
with  which  the  grammarians  contrast  another  line,  probably  by  Enmus, 
where,  conversely,  '  gubernator'  is  applied  to  a  charioteer,    ^ 
'  Cumque  gubernator  magna  contorsit  equos  vi. 
In  Ovid  the  metaphor  is  helped  out  by  the  simile  of  the  driver.    A  ship 
is  constantly  compared  by  the  poets  to  a  chariot  (Horn.  Od.  xiii.  81 ; 
Aesch.  Prom.  468,  Supp.  33  ;  Soph.  Trach.  656 ;  Eur.  Med.  1122)  ;  see 
e.  g.  the  elaborate  simile  in  Verg.  Aen.  v.  144,  where  a-  race  of  ships  is 
compared  to  a  chariot  race. 

1.  17.  Aeolus,  the  king  of  the  winds.  , 

1   19    lUyriis,  not  from  Illyrii  but  Illyriae,  a  pi.  form  of  Illyria. 
found  also  in  Prop.  ii.  16  (iii.  7.)  10,  '  die  alias  iterum  naviget  Illyrias. 

laeva  de  parte.  He  was  sailing  southwards  from  Brundisium,  thus 
Illyria  would  lie  to  the  left;  conversely,  after  passing  the  Bosporus,  one 
sailed  northwards  to  Tomi.  hence  he  speaks  of  'laevi  fera  litora  Ponti, 
2.  83 ;  see  n.  there. 

1.  21.  contendere,  '  to  set  towards.* 
1  22.  magno  deo,  Augustus  :  so  lovem,  26. 
1   23   repelU,  I  both  desire  and  fear  to  be  driven  back  to  Italy. 
1.  24.  increpuit  is  transitive,  ^has   caused   to   creak:'  M.  xu.  52, 
'luppiter  atras  Increpuit  nubes  (has  made  to  thunder).'     H.  111. 118, 
*Threiciam  digitis  increpuisse  lyram.' 
1.  25.  caerulei;  see  on  2.  59.  ,       ,        ,•     /         .»  « 

1   28    qui  periit  is  better  taken  as  he  who  has  lost  his  'caput,    a 
poedcal  exaggeration  (see  2.  72,  n..  in  Appendix);  cp.  P.  iv.  12.  44, 
•peream,  nisi  dicere  vix  est-Si  modo.  qui  periit,  ille  perire  potest ; 
than,  with  Lors,  as  simply  a  strong  expression  for  one  who  has  been 
ruined  (cp.  iii.  3-  53)' 


54 


r 


OVIDI   TRISTIA. 


El.  V. 


This  is  the  first  Epistle  proper  of  the  Tristia,  and  is  addressed  in  the 
most  affectionate  terms  to  a  friend  for  whose  constancy  the  poet  is 
warmly  grateful.  The  friend's  name  is  not  mentioned,  in  accordance 
with  what  is  said  in  P.  i.  i.  17,  *  Rebus  idem  [i.e.  the  Pontic  Epistles 
are  the  same  as  the  Tristia],  titulo  differt ;  et  epistula  cui  sit  Non 
occultato  nomine  missa  docet.'  Who  this  friend  was  has  been  a  matter 
of  considerable  controversy ;  but  it  has  now  been  almost  certainly 
established  that  he  was  the  Albinovanus  Celsus  addressed  also  in  iiij  6. 
See  Introduction  III.  p.  xlvii. 

With  the  sentiments  of  the  epistle  cp.  Ar.  Eth.  N.  ix.  ii. 


NOTES,     I.  V.  I-IO. 


5S 


Summary. — O  dearest  friend,  whose  name  I  may  not  mention,  who 
wast  the  first  to  console  me  in  my  calamity,  and  who  didst  dissuade  me 
from  laying  violent  hands  on  myself,  as  was  my  first  desperate  intention, 
thy  kindness  will  never  be  forgotten  by  me  as  long  as  I  live  (1-14). 
May  the  gods  requite  thee  with  all  the  happiness  thou  so  well  deservest 
(15-16).  If  I  had  not  experienced  misfortune  perhaps  I  should  never 
have  discovered  thy  loyalty.  For  true  friendship  has  ever  shown  itself 
most  clearly  in  the  hour  of  adversity  :  by  adversity  it  is  tested,  as 
gold  by  fire  (17-26).  All  are  the  friends  of  the  fortunate,  but  let  but 
his  fortune  desert  him,  and  the  throng  of  friends  vanishes  instantly 
away.  This  I  have  now  learned  by  sad  experience  (27-32).  But  ye 
few  friends  that  remain  to  me,  continue,  I  pray,  to  help  me  in  my  shat- 
tered stale  ;  and  fear  not  Caesar's  wrath,  if  ye  do  so,  for  Caesar  himself 
respects  loyalty,  even  among  his  enemies.  And  I  am  no  enemy,  but 
was  exiled  merely  for  my  folly.  Therefore  lend  me  your  assistance 
(34-44).  My  sorrows  are  too  numerous  to  recount ;  many  must  die 
with  me  untold,  for  had  I  a  voice  of  iron,  lungs  of  brass,  and  tongues 
innumerable,  1  could  never  hope  to  describe  them  all  (45-56).  There- 
fore, ye  poets,  if  ye  would  sing  of  misfortune,  take  me  for  your  theme, 
rather  than  Ulysses  of  ancient  story,  for  my  case  is  far  harder  than  his 

(57-84).  

1.  I.  tillos  numquam.  Madvig  (Adv.  Crit.  ii.  96,  followed  by 
Ehwald)  prefers  the  reading  of  the  inferior  manuscripts  nullos  umquam^ 
on  the  ground  that  *  quisquam '  and  *  uUus  *  never  precede  the  negative, 
a  rule  laid  down  by  him  in  preface  to  \A\y  i.  p.  22,  and  L.  Gr.  474  a, 
in  which  he  is  followed  by  Roby  898,  L.  Gr.  2278.     But  there  is  really 


no  reason  either  here  or  in  Cic.  de  Or.  ii.  §  229,  'his  cum  adrisisset  ipse 
Crassus,  "ac  tamen  '*  inquit  Antonius  "  cum  artem  esse  facetiarum,  luli, 
uUam  negares,"  *  etc.  (where  Madv.  would  read  *  facetiarum,  luli,  ne- 
gares ')  to  disturb  the  reading  of  the  MSS.  Probably  '  ullus,*  both  in 
Ovid  and  Cicero,  is  placed  first  for  the  sake  of  emphasis  ('  after  any  single 
comrade  never  to  be  mentioned '),  which  would  be  the  effect  of  the  un- 
usual position.  The  same  order  is  found  in  TibuU.  iii.  12.  9,  *ullae 
non  ille  puellae  servire.'  (Instances  of  the  usual  order  are  v.  6.  34,  xii.  63.) 

1.  3.  attonitum,  'stupefied '  at  my  exile  :  the  word  lit.  means  *  thun- 
derstruck ;•  hence  there  is  a  special  point  in  its  use  here,  as  he  frequently 
compares  Augustus  to  Juppiter,  and  his  exile  to  a  thunderbolt  launched 
at  him.     Cp.  i.  72,  iii.  11. 

1.  4.  adloquio  — Trapa/iu^ta,  *  consolation.*  Infr.  8.  18  ;  iv.  5.  3. 
sustinuisse,  the  perf.  inf.  is  used  freely  in  the  poets  where  we 
should  have  expected  a  present.  Madvig  (L.  Gr.  407,  obs.  2)  gives  the 
usage  thus  :  *  In  the  poets  the  perf.  infin.  act.  is  sometimes  used  (like 
the  Greek  aorist)  for  the  pres.  infin.,  but  only  as  a  simple  infinitive  after 
a  verb  (especially  after  verba  voluntatis  et  potestatis),  not  as  a  subject 
[this  is  a  mistake ;  in  *  quiesse  erit  melius '  (quoted  by  Madvig  him- 
self) *quiesse*  is  subject— H.  J.  R.],  nor  in  the  ace.  with  infin.' 
Conington  (Aen.  vi.  79)  remarks  that  its  greater  frequency  in  the  elegiac 
poets  than  in  Vergil  is  due  to  the  needs  of  the  pentameter  (see  Kennedy, 

L.  Gr.  p.  425). 

1.  5.  *  Thou  who  didst  offer  to  me  the  comforting  advice  to  live,  as 
my  poor  heart  was  filled  with  the  love  of  death.' 

The  clause  introduced  by  cum  contains  the  reason  why  the  '  consilium 
vivendi'  was  offered. 

1.  7.  Cp.  iv.  4.  7,  '  Quod  minime  volui,  positis  pro  nomine  signis 
Dictus  es  :  ignoscas  laudibus  ipse  tuis.' 

1.  8.  te  faUit,  c\  \avedv€i,  *You  well  know  the  service  that  you 
rendered  me.' 

offlcium  (  =  opi-ficium)  is  properly  a  service  done  from  motives  of 

relationship  or  friendship. 

L  9.  imis  medullis,  '  deep  in  my  heart,'  a  common  Latin  expression 
and  quite  Ciceronian :  Phil.  i.  §  36,  *  o  beatos  illos,  qui,  cum  adesse 
ipsis  propter  vim  amorum  non  licebat,  aderant  tamen  et  in  medullis 
populi  Romani  ac  visceribus  haerebant.' 

I.  10.  animae  debitor  huius,  *  I  shall  always  be  indebted  to  thee 
for  this  life  of  mine.'  Ovid's  use  of  the  word  debitor  is  worth  noticing : 
it  is  found  m  the  sense  of  'indebted  to,'  (i)  with  a  gen.  of  the  thing 
for  which  one  is  indebted,  here  and  in  P.  iv.  8.  6,  '  ut  iam  nil  praestes, 
animi  sum  factus  amici  Debitor'  (I  am  in  your  debt  for  your  friendly 


i 


.^.6 


OVIDI  TRISTIA. 


intention):  (2)  with  dat.  of  the  person  to  whom  the  debt  is  incurred: 
P.  iv.  I.  2,  'debitor  est  vitae  qui  tibi  Sexte  suae.'  'Officium'  is  put 
metaphorically  in  the  same  personal  dat.:  Am.  i.  10.  45,  *  Omnia  con- 
ductor  solvit,  mercede  soluta  Non  manet  officio  debitor  ille  tuo'  (one  who 
hires  from  you  and  pays  the  price  is  no  longer  under  any  obligation  to 
(you  for  your)  service.   (This  passage  is  wrongly  explained  in  L.  and  S.) 

1.  II.  'And  this  my  breath  shall  pass  from  me  to  be  dispersed  into 
the  viewless  breezes,  and  shall  leave  my  frame  on  the  smouldering  pyre, 
ere  forgetfulness  of  thy  services  enter  into  my  heart,  and  that  affection 
of  thine  fall  out  of  memory  through  lapse  of  time.' 

With  tenuandus  cp.  M.  xv.  246,  'tenuatus  in  auras  Aeraque 
umor  abit '  (moisture  disappears  evaporating  into  wind  and  air). 

With  vacuas  auras  cp.  iii.  3.  61,  *  nam  si  morte  carens  vacua 
volat  altus  in  aura  Spiritus.' 

1.  12.  in  tepido  rogo.  The  Romans  believed  that  the  spirit  left  the 
body  at  the  actual  moment  of  burning  on  the  pyre  :  F.  v.  463,  *  Nunc 
elapsa  rogi  flammis  et  inanis  imago  Haec  est  ex  illo  forma  relicta 
Remo.'     Prop.  iv.  (v.)  7.  2,  •  luridaque  evictos  effugit  umbra  rogos.' 

1. 13.  subeant  .  .  .  excidat,  asubj.  is  used  \f\th  prizisquam,  where  the 
prior  occurrence  of  an  expected  event  is  prevented :  cp.  Verg.  G.  iv. 
306;  Caes.  B.  G.  vi.  37,  *nec  prius  sunt  visi  .  .  .  quam  castris  adpro- 
pinquarent/  though  here  the  principal  sentence  being  negative  {nee  visi), 
the  prior  occurrence  is  the  reverse  of  prevented,  but  is  secured. 

1.  15.  faciles,  'gracious:'  Verg.  G.  iv.  535,  'faciles  venerare  Na- 
paeas;'  M.  v.  559,  'facilesque  deos  habuistis;'  Lucan.i.  505,  'o  faciles 
dare  summa  deos,  eademque  tueri  Difficiles.* 

nullius,  '  a  lot  such  as  to  need  the  help  of  none.' 

1. 17.  haec  navis,  'the  bark  of  my  fortunes;'  the  metaphor  of  a 
ship  applied  to  his  own  fortunes  is  a  favourite  one  with  Ovid  :  cp.  infr. 
36 ;  6.  8  n. ;  P.  i.  2.  62  ;  x.  39,  '  vos  estis  fracto  tellus  non  dura  pha- 
selo ;'  ii.  3.  26,  '  dum  flavit  velis  aura  secunda  meis.'  In  infr.  ix.  42 
the  same  metaphor  is  used  of  the  fortunes  of  his  friend. 

amico,  '  kindly,'  as  in  M.  xiii.  439,  '  dum  ventus  amicior  esset.' 

1. 18.  ignoraretur,  'would  have  remained  undiscovered  by  me.'  He 
now  proceeds  in  his  usual  manner  to  illustrate  by  well-known  legendary 
instances  the  truth  of  his  assertion  that  adversity  is  the  true  test  of 
friendship. 

1.  19.  See  on  iii.  66. 

1.  21.  Phoceus.  Pylades,  son  of  Strophius,  king  of  Phocis,  was  the 
devoted  friend  of  Orestes,  and  accompanied  him  in  all  his  wanderings, 
when  driven  by  the  Furies  of  his  mother  Clytemnestra,  whom  he  had 
killed  to  avenge  the  murder  of  his  father  Agamemnon,  king  of  Mycenae 


NOTES,     I.  V.  11-32. 


57 


and  Argos  C  Argolici  Orestae,'  inf.  9.  27  ;  Hom.  II.  2. 108).  By  order  of 
the  Delphian  Apollo  they  went  to  the  Tauric  Chersonnese,  where  they 
were  ordered  by  Thoas  the  king  to  be  sacrificed  to  Diana,  whose 
priestess  was  Iphigeneia,  the  sister  of  Orestes.  So  much  mercy  was 
shown  them  that  one  was  allowed  to  live,  and  the  noble  eagerness  of 
each  to  die  in  place  of  the  other  was  the  crowning  trait  in  their  romantic 
friendship.  Orestes  was,  however,  recognised  by  his  sister  Iphigeneia, 
and  the  three  escaped  together.  The  story  is  told  at  some  length  m  iv.  4. 
63  ff.  Seealsoi.  9.  27  ;  v.  4.  25  ;  6.  25  ;  P.  ii.  3-  45  ;  Am.ii.  6.  15.  (For 
the  developments  of  the  Greek  myth  see  England's  Iphigeneia  in  Tauris, 

Intr.  p.  vii.  ff.)  ^  ^^  .  -, 

1  23  The  story  of  the  friendship  of  Nisus,  son  of  Hyrtacus,  and  tury- 
alus,  son  of  Opheltes,  of  their  vain  attempt  to  carry  news  to  Aeneas 
from  the  beleaguered  Trojan  camp,  and  of  the  devotion  with  which  Nisus 
sacrificed  his  life  in  the  fruitless  endeavour  to  save  Euryalus,  is  told  in 
Verg.  Aen.  ix.  176  ff.     Cp.  infr.  9.  33 ;  v.  4-  26. 

Madvig  (Adv.  ii.  96)  needlessly  objects  to  the  phrase  caderg  m 
hostem,  which  he  says  can  mean  neither  '  incidere  in  hostem  '  nor  'pug- 
nantem  contra  hostem  cadere;'  and  he  conjectures 'Rutulo  cecidisset 
in  hoste '  But  '  cadere  in '  is  used  metaphorically  of  falling  into  a  trap  ; 
Euryalus  was  entrapped  by  the  Rutulian  cavalry,  whom  he  encountered 
unawares  (Aen.  ix.  372  ff.)  ;  and  this  usage  is  common,  e.g.  A.  A.  1. 
646, '  in  laqueos,  quos  posuere,  cadant.' 

1.  25.  scilicet  (  =  scire  licet),  'you  see  that,'  introduces  the  conclusion 
drawn  from  the  examples, 
spectatur,  *  is  proved.' 

1.  27.  vultu,  looks.    P.  iv.  3.  7,  •  Nunc,  quia  contraxit  vultum  Fortuna, 
recedis.'     Hor.  Epp.  i.  11.  20.  ,        ^ 

].  28.  *  The  whole  worid  follows  at  the  beck  of  wealth  unimpaired. 
On  indelibatas  see  Appendix. 

1.  29.  At  the  first  distant  peal  of  thunder  they  are  off  before  the  storm 

uUi,  R.  476.  The  dat.  to  express  the  agent  is  used  regulariy  with 
the  gerundive,  and  sometimes  with  passive  participles  and  participial  ad- 
jectives in  -bilis,  or  even  other  parts  of  the  passive  verb  ;  all  these  uses 
except  the  first  are  mainly  poetical.     See  Wilkins,  Hor.  Epp.  1.  19-  3- 

1  -lo    The  Roman  nobles  were  accompanied  by  their  clients  on  foot 
throughout  the  business  of  the  day  (Wilkins.  Rom.  Ant.  p.  35)  :  thus 
comitcs  here  =  •  clients,'  as  in  luv.  iii.  284,  *  comitum  longissimus  ordo. 
This  sense  is  common  in  Juvenal ;  see  Mayor's  Index. 

1.  31.  conlecta,  '  inferred.* 

1.  32.  vera  is  predicate,  '  known  to  be  true.' 


f 


!l 


58 


OVIDI  TRISTIA. 


1.  34.  See  on  3.  16. 

1.  35.  rebus  laesis  is  supported  by  Silius  xi.  6, '  laesis  diffidere  rebns  ;* 
probably  an  imitation  of  the  Ovidian  phrase. 

1.  36.  naufragio  meo  =  *  mihi  naufrago.*  The  poets  frequently  use 
a  subst.  in  this  way  where  we  should  have  expected  a  participle,  and  a 
thing  where  we  should  have  expected  a  person  :  cp.  inf.  43 ;  1 1.  6.  Pro- 
pertius  is  particularly  daring  in  his  use  of  such  expressions :  cp.  ii.  20 
(iii.  11)  31,  'atque  inter  Tityi  volucres  mea  poena  vagetur;'  i.  20,  15, 
'quae  miser  ignotis  error  perpessus  in  oris  Herculis  (  =  miser  errans 
Hercules)  indomito  fleverat  Ascanio.*  See  Hertzberg,  Q.  P.  149;  Reid 
on  Pro  Sulla,  §  4. 

1.  39.  Cp.  inf.  9.  24.  in  =  in  the  case  of,  inf.  9.  24  and  35  ;  P.  i.  10. 
21,  •  Is  quoque,  qui  gracili  cibus  est  in  corpore,  somnus  Non  alit  officio 
corpus  inane  suo.' 

1.  41.  qui,  the  masculine  relative,  stands  as  if  the  antecedent  were  not 
cansa  mea,  but  ego  (the  idea  of  which  is  contained  in  it) ;  cp.  ii.  51, 
•  Causa  mea  est  melior,  qui   nee  contraria  dicor  Anna  nee   hostiles 
esse  secutus  opes;*  v.   11.  4,  '  Indolui,  non  tam  mea   quod  fortuna 
male  audit,  Qui  iam  consuevi  fortiter  esse  miser  ; '  P.  iii.  4. 91,  *  Nee  mea 
verba  legis,  qui  sum  summotus  ad  Histrum.'     Cp.  2.  37  n. 
qui  = '  for  I,'  the  indie,  merely  stating  the  fact. 
contraria  fovi  arma  refers  rather  to  support  rendered  to  the 
opponents  of  Augustus  in  the  civil  wars,  than  to  taking  part  in  conspira- 
cies against  him,  such  as  that  of  Varro  Murena  (which  occurred  B.C.  23. — 
Nettleship,  Essays,  p.  xi),  or  those  enumerated  by  Suetonius,  Octav.  19. 
Cp.  ii.  51. 

1.42.  simplicitate,  'artlessness,'  not  exactly  'stupidity/  as  it  is 
usually  explained,  a  meaning  which  the  word  will  hardly  bear ;  cp.  iii. 
6.  35>  '  Stultitiamque  meum  crimen  debere  vocari,  Nomina  si  facto 
reddere  vera  velis.' 

L  43.  invigiles  is  jussive  depending  on  ore. 

nostris  pro  casibus  =  *  pro  me  misero,'  supr.  36  n. 
1.  48.  corpora,  *  grains.'     M.  xiv.  137,  *  quot  haberet  corpora  pulvis. 
Tot  mihi  natales  contingere  vana  rogavi;'  med.form.  ed.  Kunz  70,  'et 
simul  inflantis  corpora  frige  fabae.' 
1.  49.  credibili  maiora.     See  Appendix  on  this  line. 
1.  50.  quamvis.     This  line  shows  clearly  the  true  meaning  oiquamvis, 
and  of  the  rhetorical  command  conveyed  by  the  subj. :  '  Let  them  have 
happened  as  much  as  ever  you  like,  they  will  not  gain  credence.' 

1.  51.  'Part  too  of  my  sorrows  must  needs  die  with  me,  and  I  could 
wish  that  since  I  avow  them  not  they  may  be  hidden  from  the  world.* 
My  sorrows  are  too  numerous  for  me  to  sing  them  all,  and  I  only  hope 


NOTES.     I.  V.  34-57. 


59 


that  such  as  I  allow  to  be  forgotten  may  rest  in  that  obscurity  to  which 
I  have  consigned  them. 

1.  53.  A  conscious  imitation  of  what  Homer  says  of  the  multitude  of 
the  Greek  ships,  II.  ii.  488,  nXrjdvv  5*  ovk  av  iycb  fxvOiiffOfiat  ov5'  dvonrivo), 
OvS'u  fjLoi  tUa  yilv  y\a>ff aai,  Uxa  U  arofMT  dev,  ^wv^  5'  apprj/cros  xaA/f€oi' 
8e  HOI  rJTop  fvdrj :  imitated  also  by  Verg.  Geor.  ii.  43=Aen.  vi.  625 ; 
Pers.  V.  I.  Cp.  Reynard  the  Fox,  tr.  by  T.  J.  Arnold,  p.  4,  *  Had  I  the 
tongues  of  angels,  lungs  of  brass,  whole  days  and  weeks— nay,  months 
and  years  would  pass  Ere  I  could  mention  all  my  injuries.*  Tennyson, 
in  Macmillan's  Mag.,  Dec.  1884,  p.  83,  'Men  loud  against  all  forms  ot 
power— Unfumish'd  brows,  tempestuous  tongues— Expecting  all  things 
in  an  hour — Brass  mouths  and  iron  lungs.* 

infragilis  is  Homer's  apfwyycToy,  Vergil's  *ferrea.'  pectus  =  *  lungs.' 
For  the  omission  of  the  substantive  verb  see  i.  17  n. 

1.57.  pro  duce  N.  is  used  compendiously  for  'pro  malis  ducis 
Neritii:'  cp.  Prop.  ii.  3.  21,  'sua  cum  antiquae  committit  scripta 
Corinnae '  (  =  matches  her  poetry  with  that  of  Corinna).  Hom.  II.  xvii. 
51,  /foftat  Xapirecffiv  dfxotai,  '  hair  like  (that  of)  the  Graces.'  Justin  iv. 
3,  *  facinus  nuUi  t)rranno  comparandum." 

The  epithet  Neritius  applied  to  Ulysses  here  and  in  F.  iv.  69,  and  used 
of  him  also  in  Rem.  264;  M.  xiii.  711  ;  xiv.  563  ;  cp.  xiv.  159,  refers 
probably  not  to  the  Homeric  Neritos,  a  mountain  of  Ithaca,  but  to  a 
small  island  of  that  name  in  the  Ionian  sea,  one  of  the  group  of  islands 
over  which  Ulysses  ruled  ;  and  Ovid  is  probably  following  some  later 
Greek  writer  whose  works  have  perished.  Otherwise  M.  xiii.  711,  '  Et 
iam  Dulichios  portus  Ithacamque  Samenque  Neritiasque  domos,  regnum 
fallacis  Vlixis,  Praeter  erant  vecti,'  is  hard  to  explain  ;  see  Conington 
on  Aen.  iii.  271.  In  the  rest  of  the  poem  he  artfully  contrasts  his 
own  sufferings  with  those  of  Ulysses  on  his  return  from  Troy,  which 
from  the  Odyssey  had  acquired  a  world-wide  fame. 

docti  =  ao<poi, '  accomplished.'  The  word  does  not  imply  learning 
in  our  sense,  nor  necessarily  a  knowledge  of  Greek,  but  only  the  posses- 
sion of  poetic  taste  and  culture,  and  so  often  means  simply  poetical 
(Hertzberg  on  Prop.  ii.  34-  89 ;  Ellis  on  CatuU.  xxxv.  16  ;  Sellar's 
Vergil,  p.  53).  Thus  it  applied  to  the  following  poets  :  Pacuvius  (Hor. 
Epp.  ii'.  1.  56  ;  Quintil.  x.  97) ;  Calvus  (Prop.  ii.  34-  (»"•  26)  89) ;  Catullus 
(Ovid,  Am.  iii.  9.  62) ;  M.  Brutus,  an  erotic  poet  (P.  i.  1.  24) ;  Albino- 
vanus  Pedo  (Mart.  ii.  77-  5)  5  and  the  poetess  Perilla  (T.  iii.  7.  31). 
And  in  Ovid  we  find  it  used  of  'poetae'  (A.  A.  iii.  551);  *carmina' 
(T.  iii.  7.  12);  'pectus,'  the  poet's  soul  (T.  iii.  i.  63);  *libelli,* 
books  of  poetry  (T.  iii.  i .  71)  ;  the  reader  of  poetry  (v.  9.  9)  ;  the  Muses 
(A.  A.  iii.  411 ;  T.  ii.  13  J  F.  vi.  811  j  M.  v.  255) ;  his  friend  Salanus 


f 


60 


OVIDI  TRISTIA, 


(P.  ii.  5.  15);  and  of  Germanicus  in  his  capacity  of  •  vates'  (P.  iv,  8. 
77  ;  F.  i.  19).  The  Muses  and  Apollo  are  called  *  docta  turba '  (T.  iii. 
2.  4)  ;  *  docti '  and  '  turba  doctorum  '  mean  '  readers  of  poetry'  (T.  ii. 
119;  P.  iii.  9.  45);  Mocti  viri'  =  *poets'(T.  ii.  419;  iii.  14.  i) ;  and 
*docta'  means  an  accomplished  singer  (A.  A.  iii.  320).  See  Ellis, 
Comm.  CatuU.  p.  26.  Thus  Horace's  famous  line  (Epp.  ii.  i.  117) 
'  Scribimus  indocti  doctique  poemata  passim,'  means  no  more  than  *  we 
are  all  scribblers  of  verse  whether  real  poets  Or  not.' 

Translate :  *  Write,  ye  accomplished  poets,  the  story  of  my  sorrows  in 
place  of  those  of  the  chieftain  of  Neritus ;  for  sorrows  more  have  I  borne 
than  the  chieftain  of  Neritus.' 

1.  59-  brevi  spatio,  abl.  of  place, '  He  wandered  about  in  a  confined 
space.' 

in,  'in  the  course  of.' 

1.  60.  Dulichium  was  an  island  south-east  of  Ithaca,  which  formed 
part  of  the  kingdom  of  Ulysses. 

1.  61.  sideribus  totis  distantia,  'separated  by  entire  constellations,' 
i.  e.  wholly  visible  at  one  place  and  not  seen  at  the  other  (abl.  of  measure, 
R.  496) ;  for  Ovid  seems  to  have  looked  upon  Tomi  as  far  north  of  Rome, 
whereas  really  the  stars  visible  at  Tomi  would  be  very  nearly  the  same 
as  those  at  Rome,  since  the  latitude  of  Rome  is  41°  53'  N.,  that  of 
Tomi  about  43°  46'  N.  Cp.  iii.  10.  3,  '  Suppositum  stellis  numquam 
tangentibus  aequor  Me  sciat  in  media  vivere  barbaria ; '  P.  ii.  7.  57, 
'proiectus  in  aequor  Arcturum  subii  Pleiadumque  minas.* 

(The  usual  explanation  which  makes  sideribus  Mis  =  'toto  caelo' 
rests  on  no  support.) 

1.  62.  Note  (1)  the  antithesis  between  this  line  and  60;  he  came  at 
last  to  his  own  country,  I  to  a  barbarous  land;  (2)  the  exact  balancing 
of  the  words  by  which  Dulichias  Iliacasque  corresponds  to  the  pair  of 
proper  adjectives  Geticos  Sarmaticosque. 

1.  63.  socios  fidelcs.  Homer's  fpirjpa  kraipot. 

1.  64.  Cp.  P.  ii.  7. 61,  'Recta  fides  comitum  poterat  mala  nostra  levare: 
Ditata  est  spoliis  perfida  turba  meis.' 

1.67.  Samos  (a  form  found  in  II.  ii.  634;  M.  xiii.  711),  usually 
called  Same,  is  the  Homeric  name  for  the  large  island  Cephallenia  near 
Ithaca.  This  line  is  a  reminiscence  of  Od.  xvi.  123,  AovXtx'V  ^«  5«A*!7  ^e 
kqX  vXrjivTi  ZaKvvOo). 

1.  70.  inperii  deumque  locus,  a  covert  flattery  of  Augustus,  who 
lived  on  the  Palatine,  amid  the  other  gods  of  Rome  (i.  69  n.). 

1.  71.  patiens  laborum.  Homer's  iroXvrXas. 

1.  72.  ingenuae, '  weak  is  my  strength  and  gentle  as  my  birth.'  The 
strength  of  an  'ingenuus'  is  contrasted  with  the  robustness  of  a  slave,  as 


NOTES.    I.  V.  59-82. 


61 


in  Mart.  x.  47.  6  (the  happy  man  is  he  who  has)  'vires  ingenuae.  salubre 
corpus,  Prudens  simplicitas,  pares  amici.'  Cp.  what  he  says  0/  h»mself 
Am.  ii.  10.  23  'graciles  non  sunt  sine  viribus  artus ;'  P.  1.  5-  5^  'Mensque 
magis  gracili  corpore  nostra  valet.' 

1.  75.  deus,  Augustus,  2.  3.    Soinfr.  lovis  78  =  Augusti. 

1.  76.  beUatrix,  Pallas  Athene,  who  sprang  in  full  armour  from  the 
brain  of  Zeus,  and  was  the  patron  of  warlike  prowess  as  well  as  the 
arts.    Cp.  Verg.  Aen.  xi.  483,  *  armipotens,  belli  praeses,  Tritonia  virgo. 

1.  77.  cum,  'whereas.'  e  c  ,.',' 

1  79  iUius  pars  maxima  Acta  laborum,  the  charge  of  hctilious 
invention  against  Homer  is  as  old  as  Aristotle,  Poet.  25,  Sc5t5ax€  St 
IMkiaTa''Oixr]pos  Kai  tovs  dWovs  ipevbrj  Ki-^iiv  d?  hit,     Cp.  Hor.  A.  F. 

^^'.*82.  tamen,  'and  reached  though  late  the  land  he  had  sought  so 
long ;'  tamen  is  placed  last  for  the  sake  of  emphasis. 


El.  VI. 

This  is  the  first  of  the  series  of  epistles,  eight  in  number  (T.  i.  6;  iii. 

3  ;  iv.  3;  V.  2.  1-44;  V.  II ;  V.  14;  P.  i.  4  ;  iii-  D.  addressed  to  his  wife 

(her  birthday  is  celebrated  in  v.  5  :  cp.  also  i.  3,  supr.  ;  iv.  10.  73;  lb. 

1 0   of  whom  he  always  speaks  in  the  most  affectionate  terms.   She  was 

a  Fabia  by  birth,  a  relative  of  P.  Fabius  Maximus,  one  of  the  poet  s 

most  intimate  and  most  powerful  friends.     P.  Fabius  Maximus,  through 

his  wife  Marcia,  who  was  the  daughter  of  L.  Marcms  Philippus  and 

Atia  the  younger,  was  connected  with  the  imperial  family;  for  Atia  the 

vounger  was  the  sister  of  Atia  the  elder,  who  by  her  first  husband,  C 

Octavius,  was  the  mother  of  Augustus  the  Emperor  ;  and  the  two  Atiae 

were  the  daughters  of  M.  Atius  Balbus  and  Julia,  sister  of  Caesar  the 

Dictator.     Consequently  Ovid's  third  wife  was  one  of  the  ladies  about 

the  court,  and  enjoyed  the  familiar  friendship  of  Marcia,  the  two  Atiae, 

and  Livia,  the  Empress  herself :  see  infr.  25  ;  P.  1.  2. 139  *  Hanc  (Ovid  s 

wife)  probat  et  primo  dilectam  semper  ab  aevo  Est  inter  comites  Marcia 

censa  suas,  Inque  suis  habuit  matertera  Caesaris  (Augustus    aunt,  the 

younger  Atia^  ante :  Quarum  iudicio  siqua  probata,  proba  est.     bee 

Masson.  Vit.  Ov.  p.  45,  ed.  Fischer  ;  Graeber,  i.  ix ;  Lorentz,  p.  24,  ff. 

Summary.— Wife,  than  whom  was  never  one  dearer,  thou  hast  been 
my  comfort  in  my  trouble,  and  hast  supported  my  interests  at  home, 
helped  by  a  few  firm  friends,  when  a  cruel  and  rapacious  enemy,  i^lymg 
on  my  forlorn  state,  tried  to  despoil  me  of  my  property  (1-16).    There- 


6z 


OVIDI   TRISTIA. 


NOTES,     I.  vi.  1-19. 


63 


I 


ill 


fore  I  offer  my  poor  tribute  of  thanks  to  thee,  who  wilt  hold  a  place 
among  leal  wives  higher  than  any  of  the  heroines  of  old  time  (17-22). 
Whether  thy  own  high  soul  has  prompted  thee,  or  whether  our  great 
empress,  whose  society  thou  dost  enjoy,  has  taught  thee  by  her  example 
how  to  play  the  part  of  a  good  wife,  I  know  not  (23-28).  My  powers 
are  too  weak  and  feeble  rightly  to  sing  thy  praises ;  thou  shouldst  have 
held  a  foremost  place  among  the  great  ladies  of  story.  Still  if  my 
strains  can  give  thee  immortality,  thou  shalt  enjoy  it  (29-34). 


N 


1.  I.  Clario  poetae.  Antimachus  of  Claros,  a  small  town  near  Colo- 
phon in  Ionia  (fl.  circ.  B.  c  405),  wrote  ( i )  a  Thehais^  an  epic  poem,  on 
account  of  which  he  was  ranked  second  among  epic  poets  by  Quintilian 
X*  ^-  53 »  (2)  Lyde^  a  long  elegiac  poem  (AvSt;  koX  vayy  -ypainxa  koH,  ov 
rSpov,  Callim.  fr.  441.  Blomf.),  composed  to  assuage  his  grief  at  the 
death  of  his  loved  wife  or  mistress  Lyde  (Plut.  cons.  ApoU.  106  b.). 
It  contained  an  account  of  the  misfortunes  of  all  the  mythical  heroes 
who  had  been  unfortunate  in  love,  and  was  valuable  as  a  storehouse  of 
legend,  and  was  probably  one  of  the  Greek  models  chiefly  used  by 
Ovid. 

1.  2.  Coo,  Philetas  (fl.  circ.  B.  c.  300)  of  the  island  Cos,  the  tutor  of 
Ptolemy  Philadelphus  II,  was  with  Callimachus  the  joint  inventor  of 
the  erotic  elegy  proper,  and  these  two  were  the  chief  models  of  Pro- 
pert  ius,  and  were  much  copied  by  Ovid.  Philetas  was  probably  less 
erudite  than  Callimachus,  and  wrote  chiefly  elegy  and  epigrams.  Bittis 
(wrongly  written  Battis  in  the  manuscripts,  see  Hertzberg,  Q.  P.  p.  207) 
was  the  mistress  celebrated  by  Philetas.  Cp.  P.  iii.  i.  57  *nec  te 
nesciri  patitur  mea  pagina,  qua  non  Inferius  Coa  Bittide  nomen  habes.* 
A.  A.  iii.  329,  Rem.  760. 

1.  4.  non  meliore.  Ovid  was  both  of  a  good  equestrian  family  and 
a  distinguished  poet,  and  his  wife  was  justly  proud  of  him  :  cp.  ii. 
109.  ff . ;  iv.  3.  55  *tempus  ubi  est,  quo  te — nisi  non  vis  ilia  referri — Et 
dici,  memini,  iuvit  et  esse  meam?' 

1.  5.  ruina,  'thou  hast  been  as  it  were  the  beam  that  propped  my 
falling  fortunes.'  Mea  ruina  =  ' ego  in  ruinoso  statu'  (supr.  5.  360.). 
Cp.  P.  ii.  3.  59  '  Quaeque  ita  concussa  est,  ut  iam  casura  putetur,  Restat 
adhuc  umeris  fulta  niina  tuis.' 

1.  6.  znuneris  omne  tui  est,  possessive  gen.,  '  all  is  the  gift  of  thy 
liberality;'  cp.  Hor.  Od.  iv.  3.  21  'Totum  muneris  hoc  tui  est.  Quod 
monstror  digito  praetereuntium  Romanae  fidicen  lyrae.' 

1.  8.  See  on  5.  17,  and  cp.  Ibis  17,  'Cumque  ego  quassa  meae  com- 
plectar  membra  carinae  Nanfragii  tabulas  pugnat  habere  mei.' 


1.  9.  famS,  as  in  Lucr.  iii.  736 ;  Verg.  Aen.  vi.  421 ;  M.  viii.  834,  and 
often  in  Ovid  ;  and  in  subsequent  poets,  Lucan.  x.  58 ;  luv.  xv.  102. 
This  simile  of  the  wolf,  and  that  in  P.  i.  2.  20,  '  eques .  . .  moenia  lustrat 
More  lupi  clausas  circueuntis  oves,'  are  probably  remmiscences  of  11.  x. 
485 ;  xvi.  352  ;  Verg.  Aen.  ix.  59. 

1.  1 1  This  comparison  of  his  treacherous  enemy,  as  also  the  somewhat 
similar  one  in  v.  10. 19,  '  ut  avis,  densissimus  hostis  Advocat  et  praedam 
vix  bene  visus  agit,'  to  a  vulture  watching  for  his  prey,  are  probably 
suggested  by  the  proverbial  use  of  the  vulture  to  describe  the  greedy 
parasite;  see  Plaut.  True.  ii.  3.  16;  Trin.  i.  2.  64;  Most.  lu.  12.  47; 
Catull.  Ixviii.  1 24. 

On  incustoditnm  see  v.  28  n.,  in  Appendix. 
1.  12.  corpus  s.  n.  p.  h.  =  *  corpus  inhumatum.* 
1.  13.  nescio  quis.     Probably  the  same  as  the  'ferus  et  nobis  cmde- 
lior  omnibus  hostis'  of  ii.  77,  and  the  enemy  attacked  in  the  Ibis ;  and 
in  iii.  II,  iv.  9,  V.  8,  and  perhaps  in  P.  iv.  3,  whom  he  accuses  of  having 
brought  about  his  exile.  ^ 

male,  '  in  malignant  confidence  in  my  piteous  plight. 
1  14.  venturus  fuit ...  si  paterere.  As  a  general  rule,  subj. 
corresponds  to  subj.,  indie,  to  indie,  in  the  protasis  and  apodosis  of 
conditional  sentences,  but  verbs  expressing  possibility,  duty,  a  wish, 
necessity,  fitness,  and  the  periphrastic  use  of  esse  with  the  gerundive  or 
fiit.  participle,  are  used  regularly  with  a  past  tense  of  the  indic,  instead 
of  subj.,  to  express  that  such  a  thing  was  possible,  right,  etc.  The 
indic.  is  used  quite  logically,  because  it  states  that  the  possibility,  duty, 
etc.,  was  the  case,  and  has  no  reference  to  the  acts  themselves.  Cp. 
I.  126.  (Instances  from  the  Fasti  are  given  on  p.  332  of  Mr.  Hallam  s 
edition.)     Cp.  8.  1 7  n.  ^ 

1  15  virtus.  He  speaks  of  both  the  'courage'  and  '  honour,  i.e. 
fidelity  (prodiias)  of  his -wife,  also  in  P.  iii.  1-93/  Nota  tua  est  prohias 
testataque  tempus  in  omne :  Sit  virtus  etiam  non  probitate  minor.  Cp. 
what  Cicero,  also  writing  in  exile,  says  to  his  wife  Terentia :  Fam.  xiv. 
I  I  'Ex  litteris  multorum  et  sermone  omnium  perfertur  ad  me  mcredi- 
bilem  tuam  virtutem  et  fortitudinem  esse  teque  nee  animi  neque  corporis 

laboribus  defatigari.'  ^    ^ 

1  17    probaris  =  'probaiudicaris,'asinP.i.  2.i42,quotedinintrod. 

to  this  poem.     '  And  so  thou  art  deemed  faithful  in  the  eyes  of  a  witness 
true  as  he  is  wretched,  if  so  be  that  this  witness  carries  aught  of  weight 
Teste,  instr.  abl.,  note  the  omission  of  ab,  which  would  be  required  in 
prose.     Hie  is  deictic,  and  means  himself. 

1. 19.  prior,  'superior  to'  (a  post-Ciceronian  usage),  corresponds  to 


64 


OVIDI   TRISTIA, 


f 


J  .'a 


secunda, '  inferior  to,'  in  2  2.   The  faithful  wife  of  Hector  is  Andromache : 
see  U.  vi.  429  ;  T.  iv.  3.  29. 

1.  20.  Laodamia  was  the  wife  of  Protesilaus,  king  of  Phylace  and  the 
neighbouring  towns.  Leaving  his  wife  behind  him,  he  went  to  the 
Trojan  War,  and  was  killed  first  of  all  the  Greeks,  on  leaping  from  his 
ship  to  shore  (2.  403,  hence  Ausonius,  Epigr.  20.  5,  derives  his  name 
from  TTpwTos  +  dXeadai).  H.  xiii,  of  doubtful  authenticity,  is  a  letter 
from  Laodamia  to  Protesilaus ;  see  also  T.  v.  5.  57.  The  legend  is 
beautifully  treated  in  Wordsworth's  Laodamia. 

1.  31.  M.  vatem,  *  Homer  for  your  bard  ;'  see  on  i.  47. 

1.  22.  Penelope  was  the  faithful  wife  of  Ulysses,  whose  constancy  to 
her  husband  during  the  ten  years  of  the  Trojan  War,  and  the  ensuing  ten 
years  of  his  wanderings,  is  celebrated  in  the  Odyssey.  Cp.  2.  375, 
*  Quid  Odyssea  est  nisi  femina  propter  amorem,  Dum  vir  abest,  multis 
una  petita  viris?'  Cp.  v.  5.  51.  H.  i.  is  a  letter  from  Penelope  to 
Ulysses. 

1.  23.  'Whether  thou  owest  this  to  thyself,  schooled  in  duteousness 
by  no  teacher,  and  thy  disposition  was  assigned  thee  with  thy  life's  fresh 
dawn,  or  whether  it  is  the  royal  lady,  attended  by  thee  through  all  thy 
years,  that  teaches  thee  to  be  an  example  of  a  good  wife.' 

princeps  (see  on  i.  33)  is  here  applied  with  studied  adulation  to 
Livia,  the  wife  of  Augustus. 
null!  is  dat.  of  agent. 

I.  28.  Cp.  iii.  25  n. 

II.  29  foil.  The  usual  explanation  of  these  lines  is  to  connect  31,  32 
with  29,  30  (making  the  construction  *  ei  mihi  quod  non  habent,  etc., 
nostraque  ora  sunt  minora  et  (quod)  si  quid  fuit  ante  vigoris  occidit'), 
and  to  make  33, 34  the  apodosis  to  this  protasis  (  =  *  alioquin  tu  primum 
locum  inter  heroidas  haberes ') — *  Alas  !  that  I  am  too  weak  to  sing  you, 
else  you  would  have  held  a  foremost  place.'  But  this  necessitates 
(i)  putting  a  comma  at  the  end  of  30,  whereas  in  Ovid  it  is  rare  not  to 
have  a  considerable  break  in  the  sense  at  the  end  of  the  pentameter; 
(2)  supplying  *  alioquin,'  or  some  such  word,  the  omission  of  which  is 
very  harsh. 

This  difficulty  has  led  Riese  and  Ehwald  to  transpose  33,  34,  making 
them  follow  22,  whilst  Schenkl  suggests  that  something  has  fallen  out 
before  33.     [I  fancy  a  better  order  would  be  20,  23-28,  21,  22,  33,  34, 

29-32,  35.  36— H.  J.  R.] 

But  it  seems  more  natural,  preserving  the  usual  order,  (i)  not  to  con* 
nect  31,  32  with  29,  30  in  construction  ;  (2)  not  to  connect  33,  34  with 
what  precedes,  but  with  what  follows  in  sense.  Translate :  '  Ay  me, 
that  my.  verses  have  but  puny  strength,  and  my  mouth  (poet,  pi.)  is  too 


NOTES.     I.  vi.   20-35 


65 


weak  to  hymn  thy  praises  I  Whatever  of  vital  power  too  I  had  erewhile 
has  all  been  quenched  and  died  away  for  length  of  sorrow.  Thou 
wouldst  have  held  a  foremost  place  among  the  hallowed  ladies  of 
old  story,  thou  wouldst  have  been  admired  above  all  for  thy  souls 
graces;  still,  as  far  as  my  heraldings  shall  avail,  thou  shalt  live  for 

ever  in  my  verse.'  .     , .- 

Thus  haberes  will  be  apodosis  to  an  easily  understood  protasis,   it 
my  vigour  had  remained,'  or  perhaps  may  be  jussive  =  'habere  debebas 
like  Vergil's  '  at  tu  dictis  Albane  maneres ; '  Aen  viii.  643.     Inter, 
note  the  anastrophe  of  the  prep.,  see  inf.  9.  11  n. 
lac.  tamen  is  consolatory,  as  in  1.  96.  ^ 

*  With  L  31  cp.  V.  12.  31,  32  ;  and  for  prima  =  ' pnmum,  9.  20  n. 


El.  Vn. 

To  a  friend  who  had  a  portrait  of  the  poet  on  a  ring  (p.  43)-  J^P^f^'^ 
(V  4^)  suggests  with  much  probability  that  the  friend  addressed  m  this 
poem  was  M.  lunius  Brutus,  to  whom  are  inscribed  P.  1.  i.  m.  9,  iv.  6.  Of 
bis  affection  to  himself  the  poet  speaks  in  strong  terms  m  iv.  6  23.  10 
Brutus  also  T.  iii.  14  seems  to  be  addressed,  where  Ovid  appeals  to  him, 
in  consideration  of  his  great  love  for  poetry  and  poets,  to  assume  the 
patronage  and  protection  of  all  his  works,  the  Ars  Amandi  alone  ex- 
cepterfnd  more  especially  of  the  Metamorphoses,  just  published,  ^d 
the  third  book  of  the  Tristia.  Here  it  is  on  behalf  of  the  Metamor- 
phoses  alone  that  he  seeks  his  advocacy.  This  poem,  in  despair  of  com- 
pttng  it.  he  had  burnt,  on  learning  of  his  exile;  but  it  had  been 
preserved  in  copies  possessed  by  friends,  and  he  now  asks  to  have  it 
published  for  him. 


Summary.-'  Each  one  that  possesses  a  copy  of  my  features,  take  from 
mv  brow  the  poefs  ivy  crown.'  Such  is  my  message  to  thee,  O  fnend. 
whoseTame  I  forbear  to  mention,-to  thee  who  earnest  always  w.li 
The^  my  portrait  on  thy  ring,  to  remind  thee  of  thy  lost  fnend  (i-io. 
I  ttank  thee  for  thy  thoughtfulness,  but  a  far  better  memonal  of  myself 
is  my  Metamorphoses.  This  poem,  in  my  disgust,  L  burnt  on  leavmg 
Rome,  it  may  be  because  I  hated  poetry  that  had  been  my  rum  or 
maybe  because  n,y  work  was  incomplete  (i.-«  .  But  smce  it  still 
Tur^ives  in  copies  preserved  by  my  friends,  let  .t  l.ye  to  remind  men  of 
me  Though  the  reader  must  judge  it  with  all  allowance,  font  has 
never  received  the  Bnishing  touch  from  its  author  s  hand  (aj-jj;.    six 


66 


OVIDI   TRISTIA. 


I 


i 


lines  I  enclose  to  introduce  it  to  the  world,  telling  how  it  is  the  nn- 
revised  poem  of  a  poor  exile,  published  by  others  for  him  in  his  absence 

(33-40)-  

11.  1-4  is  an  address  to  anyone  who  happens  to  possess  a  copy  of  the 
poet's  features,  couched  purposely  in  general  terms,  though  having 
special  reference  to  the  friend  addressed.  Such  busts  {imagines)  of 
poets  were  a  common  ornament  of  the  libraries  of  literary  men  (Mayor, 
luv.  vii.  29)  ;  and  in  asking  that  the  ivy-crown  may  be  removed,  he  is 
thinking  of  some  such  actual  image ;  for  the  ivy-crown  could  hardly  be 
removed  from  the  small  medallion  on  a  ring.  Having  delivered  his 
general  message,  he  tells  his  friend  (1.  5),  who  possesses  a  ring  with  a 
likeness  of  himself  upon  it,  that  he  is  here  the  subject  of  his  address. 

1.  I.  si  quis,  like  oans  in  Greek,  for  which  €t  rts  is  often  almost 
equivalent,  has  no  conditional  force  (Reid  on  Pro  Sulla,  §  31)  :  so  inf. 
28,  si  quis  =  ^  whoever,'  and  9.  26,  si  quid =*  vfha.teyeT.' 

The  message  is  put  indefinitely,  not  because  he  is  uncertain  himself 
who  the  particular  friend  of  whom  he  is  now  thinking  is,  but  because, 
from  motives  of  respect,  he  wishes  to  conceal  his  name  ;  cp.  Vergil's 
use  of  *  quisquis,'  and  in  addressing  gods,  whose  personality  is  known 
to  the  speaker,  from  motives  of  reverence,  e.g.  Aen.  ix.  22. 

similes  in  imagine  vultus,  *  a  copy  of  my  features  on  the  image  * 
on  your  ring.  The  engravings  on  rings  were  chiefly  portraits  of  ancestors, 
or,  as  here,  friends,  and  subjects  connected  with  mythology,  the  worship 
of  the  gods,  or  mythical  history  of  the  family  (Diet.  A.  96  b). 

1.  2.  hederas.  Ivy  was  associated  with  Bacchus,  because  the  spike 
at  the  end  of  the  thyrsus,  which  might  be  used  as  a  weapon,  was  con- 
cealed with  leaves  of  ivy  (or  in  some  accounts  vine-leaves  or  fir-cones), 
which  plant  grew  abundantly  at  Nysa,  a  village  on  Mount  Helicon, 
fabled  to  have  been  the  home  of  the  boy  Bacchus  (Ellis,  Catull.  Ixiv. 
256  ;  Mayor,  luv.  vii.  64).  Another  reason  given  is  that  the  nymphs 
covered  the  cradle  of  the  infant  Bacchus  with  ivy  (F.  iii.  769,  *  Nysiadas 
nymphas  puerum  quaerente  noverca  Hanc  frondem  cunis  opposuisse 
ferunt ')  ;  thus  Bacchus  is  represented  as  crowned  with  ivy.  He  is  con- 
stantly associated  with  Apollo  and  the  Muses  as  the  patron  of  poets 
(Prop.  iii.  (iv.)  2.  7  ;  Hertzberg  on  ii.  30.  37)  ;  and  the  ivy-crown  of 
poets  is  a  commonplace,  either,  says  Servius,  because  the  poet's  fine 
frenzy  of  inspiration  resembles  that  of  the  frenzied  Bacchant,  or  because 
poems  are  immortal  and  ever  green,  like  the  ivy-leaves  (Serv.  Ec.  vii.  25  ; 
cp.  Hor.  Epp.  i.  19.  4 ;  Ovid,  P.  i.  5.  31,  *  an  populus  vere  sanos  negat 
esse  poetas? ').  The  more  probable  reason,  *  who  drinks  most  wine  hath 
the  most  wit '  (Cleveland),  is  assigned  by  Propertius  iv.  (v.)  6. 75,  'inge- 


NOTES,     I.  vii.    I-17. 


67 


nium  potis  irritat  musa  poetis  :  Bacche,  soles  Phoebo  fertilis  esse  tuo  In 
P.  iv.  14.  55  we  leam  that  Ovid  was  crowned  publicly  by  the  people  of 
Tomi :  'fempora  sacrata  mea  sunt  velata  corona  Publicus  invito  quam 

favor  inposuit.'  ,    •i.-i   i.- 

1.4.  temporibus,   'circumstances:'  cp.  iii.  i.^io,  'mhil  hic  msi 

triste  videbis,  Carmine  temporibus  conveniente  suis.' 

1.  5.  '  Pretend  that  this  letter  is  not  written  to  thee,  yet,  best  of  friends, 
be  sensible  that  it  is  so.'  The  imperative  senti  is  a  little  harsh,  as  a 
command,  though  not  sufficiently  so  to  make  it  necessary  to  accept  the 
sentis  tamen  of  the  inferior  MSS. 

1.  6.  fersque  refersque,  '  carriest  about,M.  e.  hither  and  thither  :  cp. 
F.  vi.  334,  •  errantes  fertque  refertque  pedes.' 

1.  7.  conplexus  refers  to  a  gem  set  in  the  ring ;  cp.  v.  4.  6  (where 
he  is  speaking  of  his  own  signet  ring),  '  nee  qua  signabar  ad  os  est 
Ante,  sed  ad  madidas  gemma  relata  genas  ;'  ii.  451  =Tibull.  1.  6.  25  ; 
Km  ii.  15.  15  ;  P.  ii.  lo-  i'  'Ecquid  ab  impressae  cognoscis  imagme 
gemmae  (al.  cerae),  Haec  tibi  Nasonem  scribere  verba,  Macer.'  Roman 
rings  at  this  period  were  usually  made  entirely  of  gold,  and  the  work 
of  art  which  gave  its  chief  value  to  the  ring,  was  commonly  engraved 
on  the  metal  itself,  the  use  of  gems  being  confined  to  wealthy  persons 
(Daremberg  and  Saglio,  Diet.  A.  s.  v.  anulus). 

1  8    quae  potes  restricts  the  meaning  of  ora,  '  and  seest  thy  exiled 
friend's  dear  face  in  such  fashion  as  thou  canst.'     This  restricting  use  of 
the  relative  pron.  is  common  in  Ovid  ;  cp.  supr.  1.16;  iii.  3.  57  ;  iv.  3. 
i8*  H  X   ^^3.    (C"«^  in  9 also  refers  to  ora.) 
i  10*.  Naso,  always  a  trochee  in  Ovid.    See  i.  87 n.  in  Appendix. 

sodalis,  3. 65  n.  ..  ^       ,       .  . 

1  II    carmina,  the  Metamorphoses;  seel.  117;  n. 63,' Inspice mams 

opus,  quod  adhuc  sine  fine  tenetur,  In  non  credendos  corpora  versa 
modos.'     Ibid.  555  ff. ;  iii-  14.  ^9  ^' 

1.  12.  legas,  jussive  dependent  on  mando. 

qualiacumque,  depreciatory,  *  my  poems  slight  as  they  are  ;'  cp. 

infr.  II.  18.  .,,.,x  r  -J. 

1.  13.  dicentia,  2.  103  n.    The  reference  is  to  M.  1.  i,    In  nova  fert 

animus  mutaias  dicere  formas  Corpora.' 

1.  14.  infelix,  join  with  fuga.  .     ,     .t>       »  • 

1  15.  bene  multa,  •  full  many ; '  H.  1.  44,  '  ^ene  cautus.  Bene  is 
thusu«^ed  as  an  intensive  adv.  even  in  Cicero,  see  L.  and  S.  s.  v.  dene,u.  K 

1  1 6  ipse.  This  redundant  use  of  ipe  to  add  emphasis  is  very  common 
in  Ovid.    See  ii.  2.  86,  36S;  iv.  3.  66  ;  4.  7o;  v.  i.  10;  4.  45;  12-  48. 

1  17  sub  stipite.  The  life  of  Meleager  is  identified  with  the  brand, 
and.  so  to  speak,  exists  in  and  underneath  it.    Thus  the  mother  is  said 

F  2 


58 


OVIDI  TRTSTIA. 


f 


to  bum  her  son, '  inclosed  in  a  brand  * — *  in  the  brand  that  inclosed  his 
life '  (R.  Ellis). 

1.  1 8.  Thestias.  Althaea,  daughter  of  Thestius,  king  of  Aetolia,  was 
the  wife  of  Oeneus,  king  of  Calydon,  and  mother  of  Meleager.  At  his 
birth  she  received  from  the  Fates  a  brand  {stipes),  on  the  preservation  of 
which  her  son's  life  depended.  The  kingdom  of  Oeneus  was  devastated 
by  a  huge  wild  boar,  sent  by  Diana  in  anger  for  his  neglect  of  her  ;  and 
the  monster  was  killed  by  Meleager,  in  a  great  hunt  organized  by  Oeneus, 
to  which  all  the  chiefs  of  the  country  round  were  invited.  Meleager 
presented  the  boar's  head  to  his  mistress  Atalanta,  and  afterwards  killed 
his  two  uncles,  Plexippus  and  Toxeus,  who  wished  to  deprive  her  of  it. 
Their  sister  Althaea  (who  was  thus  better  sister  than  mother),  learning 
this,  burnt  the  fatal  brand,  which  caused  Meleager  to  die  in  great  agony. 
The  story  is  told  in  M.  viii.  260-546.  See  Swinburne's  Atalanta  in 
Calydon. 

1.  19.  *  Even  so  I  placed  upon  a  ravening  pyre  my  poor  books  that  had 
done  no  wrong,  my  very  flesh  and  blood  doomed  thus  to  die  with  me.' 
Again  he  speaks  of  his  exile  metaphorically  as  his  death  ;  and  his  books, 
being  a  part  of  himself,  are  his  own  flesh,  as  it  were  (viscera  is  properly 
whatever  is  beneath  the  skin,  the  flesh)  ;  for  he  is  their  parens  (infr.  35  ; 
I.  115  ;  iii.  I.  66). 

1.  20.  rapidus  {rapid),  in  its  original  sense  nearly  =  'rapax,'  and  so  is 
constantly  applied  to  heat,  as  devouring.  Thus  Ovid  uses  it  of'  flamma ' 
(M.  ii.  123  ;  xii.  274 ;  P.  iv.  8.  29  ;  Ibis  475) ;  *  ignis '  (M.  vii.  326  ;  T. 
ii.  425  ;  iv.  8.  46;  P.  iii.  3.  60)  ;  the  sun,  in  the  sense  of  'scorching' 
(Am.  iii.  6.  106  ;  M.  viii.  225)  ;  and  the  fire  on  Mount  Aetna  (T.  v.  2.  75). 

1.  21.  crimina  nostra,  *the  ground  of  my  incrimination.'  Nostra 
is  used  objectively  instead  of  *  nostri,'  *  the  charge  against  me ; '  the  Ars 
Amatoria  was  the  reason  alleged  for  his  banishment. 

Two  possible  (not  mutually  exclusive,  as  is  shown  by  the  use  of 
vel .  .  .  vel)  reasons  are  assigned  why  he  burnt  the  Metamorphoses  :  (i) 
because  his  Ars  Amatoria  was  the  reason  alleged  for  his  exile;  (2)  because 
the  work  itself  was  unfinished,  and,  by  implication,  never  would  be  so, 
in  consequence  of  the  trouble  that  had  paralysed  its  writer's  inspiration, 
and  possibly  also  of  his  absence  from  Rome  and  its  libraries,  which 
would  render  the  completion  of  such  a  learned  poem  impossible.  He 
repeats  the  statement  that  the  work  never  received  his  final  revision, 

ii.  555ff-;  i"-  M-  21  ff. 

1.  23.  quae,  neut.  pi.  not  agreeing  with  viscera  (20),  which  the  inter- 
position of  21,  22  would  make  harsh,  but  indef.  neut.  pi.  'this  work.' 
So  in  ii.  239-242  he  passes  from  speaking  of  his  Ars  Amatoria  to  the 
neut.  pL  *  At  si,  quod  mallem,  vacuum  fortasse  fuisset,  Nullum  legisses. 


NOTES.   I.  vii.  18-40. 


69 


crimen  in  Arte  mea.    Ilia  quidem  fateor  frontis  non  esse  severae 
Scripta,  nee  a  tanto  principe  digna  legi.' 

1.  26.  mei,  objective  gen.  after  verb  of  remindmg. 

1.  28.  si  quis.     See  on  I.  .w  1.1      r 

1  20.  mediis  incudibus,  from  the  middle  of  the  anvil  (abl.  of  sepa- 
ration), i.  e.  in  the  middle  of  the  forging.  Incus  is  thus  metaphorically 
applied  to  verse-making  in  Hor.  A.  P.  441. 

1   30.  lima,  also  a  metaphor  from  the  smithy,  means  properly    a  file, 
and  so*  polishing,"  revision.'     Cp.  Hor.  A.  P.  291. 

I.  ^2.  tibi,  dat.  of  agent :  [shows  the  way  in  which  the  dat.  is  used 
for  the  agent  with  gerundive  and  pass,  participles.  *  I  shall  be  to  thee 
not  disliked '  =  not  disliked  by  thee.— H.  J.  R.] 

1.  .6.  his  saltern,  to  these  poems  at  any  rate  if  not  to  their  writer    ^ 
1.  37.  edere  is  especially  used  of  publishing  books,  hence  our    edit, 

''^'^'ipso,  the  author  himself,  as  distinguished  from  his  friends:  so 
Vere  Aen  viii.  304,  'ipse'  distinguishes  Cacus  from  his  cave,  ibid.i. 
40  The  crews  from'  thdr  ships.  Thus  '  ipse '  and  '  ipsa  '  m  the  comic 
poets  =  ' the  master  (or  mistress)  himself,'  as  distmgmshed  from  every 

""T.r'funere.  'Funus'  is  defined  by  Servius  (Aen.  ".539)  to  be 
♦  iam  a;dens  cadaver.'  The  imagery  is  rather  confused.  His  exile  was 
his  death  •  his  day  of  departure  was  his  funeral.  In  his  disgust  he 
burnt  h^copy  of'the  Metamorphoses  on  that  day;  but  other  copies 
we?e  saved.     Hence  it  might  be  said  to  be  snatched  from  the  burning 

of  its  master's  body.     Cp.  iii.  14-  ^°-  ,       .  ,  , 

1  40.  eram,  supported  by  the  best  MSS.  involves  a  change  of 
per'son,  which  was  no  doubt  less  harsh  to  Roman  than  to  our  ears  (see 
Contngton  on  Aen.  viii.  293)-  The  individuality  of  the  author  tn- 
umphs,  involving  the  abandonment  of  the  third  person  wh.ch  might  to 
r  be  illustrated  by  the  difficulty  of  maintaining  the  third  person 
throughout  a  letter.  See  Shakspeare,  Hen.  V,  iv  3.  35.  where  'Henry  V 
beginf  by  dictating  a  proclamation,  but  under  the  influence  of  indigna- 
.Ton  passes  into  the  imperative  of  the  proclamation  .tself.  (Abbott, 
Shakspearian  Grammar,  §  415.) 

El.  viii. 

Addressed  to  a  friend  who  had  deserted  him,  probably  t^^  Macer  to 
whom  Am.  ii.  18,  and  P.  ii.  10  are  Inscribed.  It  is  conjectured  that 
Tws  was  the  Pompeius  Macer,  whom  Augustus  chose  to  supermtend 
tbeaXg^ent  of  the  public  libraries  of  Rome  Suet  Caes.  50,  'cut 


^o 


OVIDI  TRISTIA. 


NOTES.     I.  viii.  1-17. 


71 


f 


ordinandas  bybliothecas  delegaverat ') :  at  any  rate  he  was  a  man  of 
strong  literary  tastes,  sympathy  in  which  formed  the  salient  feature  of 
his  friendship  with  Ovid.  He  wrote  an  epic  poem  (antehomerica)  on 
the  affairs  of  the  Trojan  war  previous  to  the  quarrel  of  the  chiefs  in 
Iliad  i.  (Hennig,  pp.  22,  23) ;  and  it  was  no  doubt  common  interest  in 
the  scenes  rendered  famous  by  Homer,  the  great  master,  and  the  other 
poets  of  Greece,  that  led  Macer  and  Ovid  to  travel  in  company  together 
through  Asia  Minor  and  Sicily,  as  described  in  P.  ii.  10.  21  ff. :  cp.infr. 
33,  34.  He  was  moreover  connected  through  his  wife  with  Ovid ;  pos- 
sibly the  wives  of  the  two  were  sisters  (Wolffel,  Briefe  aus  dem  Pontus, 
Stuttgart,  p.  2207  :  cp.  P.  ii.  10.  9,  '  Quam  tu  vel  longi  debes  convic- 
tibus  aevi,  Vel  mea  quod  coniunx  non  aliena  tibi,'  with  infra  29,  '  Quid 
nisi  convictu  causisque  valentibus  essem  Temporis  et  longi  vinctus 
amore  tibi  ?'). 

With  the  poem  generally  compare  Catullus  xxx. 


Summary. — All  the  laws  of  nature,  I  say  to  myself,  will  surely  be 
reversed,  now  that  my  old  friend,  from  whom  I  looked  for  help  in  my 
affliction,  has  deserted  me  (i-io).  How  couldst  thou  have  the  heart  to 
leave  me  so,  without  one  word  of  comfort,  trampling  on  the  sacred 
name  of  friendship?  It  would  not  at  any  rate  have  cost  thee  much  to 
simulate  some  decent  sorrow  at  my  plight,  even  if  unfelt,  and  at  least 
to  bid  me  farewell.  And  now  others,  who  were  almost  strangers  to  me, 
have  been  left  to  do  this  (i  1-28).  Though  our  intimacy  was  of  long 
standing,  and  we  had  travelled  through  the  world  together,  yet  all  this 
is  forgotten  by  thee  (29-36).  Surely  the  gentle  city  of  Rome  cannot 
have  given  thee  birth,  but  rather  some  flinty  crag  of  Scythia ;  thy  heart 
must  be  of  iron,  thy  mother  some  tigress,  else  I  should  not  have  had  to 
reproach  thee  for  this  unfeeling  neglect  (37-46).  But  redress,  I  pray, 
this  wrong,  and  let  not  the  end  of  thy  friendship  be  so  unworthy  its 
beginning  (47-50).  ^ 

11.  I  foil.  Ovid  is  fond  of  illustrating  improbabilities  by  a  string  of 
impossibilities  such  as  this:  see  v.  13.  ai  ;  M.  xiii.  324-326  ;  xiv.  37- 
39  ;  P.  ii.  4.  25-30;  iv.  5.  41-44;  vi.  45-50  ;  Ibis  31-40.  Cp.  Hdt. 
V.  92,^  5^  o  T€  ovpavus  (ffrai  evfpOe  riji  7^9,  ko.}  ij  -yrj  ficreojpos  virlp  tov 
ovpavov,  Kal  01  avOpojvoi  vofibv  Iv  OaXaaarj  t^ovai,  koI  01  ixOves  r^v  -npo- 
Tfpov  dvOpwiToi^  6t€  ye  vfifis,  S)  AaKedaifiovioi,  iaoKparias  KarakvovTfs, 
TvpavyiSas  h  rasiroXis  Kardydv  itapaaKiva^iadc. 

1. 1,  caput  is  the  source,  as  in  P.  iv.  6.  46,  *  Hister  In  caput  Euxino 
de  mare  vertet  iter;'  and  alta  increases  the  incredibility  of  the  proposi' 


tion.  It  would  be  harder  for  a  deep  than  a  shallow  stream  to  flow 
backward  to  its  source.  This  expression  was  proverbial  among  the 
Greeks  for  what  seemed  to  violate  the  laws  of  nature  {naturae  prae- 
postera  legibus  :  cp.  Hesych.  IvX  tuv  kn  kvavria  y^voiikvoiv) ;  Eur.  Med. 
410  (a  passage  which  Ovid  may  have  had  in  his  mind),  dVo;  iroTatiuiv 
UpS)v  x<*>pov(Ti  rrayai,  Kal  bUa  leal  -navra  rtaXiv  aTp€<p€Tai;  H.  v.  29, 
'  Xanthe,  retro  propera,  versaeque  recurrite  lymphae  I*    Hor.  Od.  i.  29. 

10;  Prop.  ii.  15.  (iii-  6)  33;  "i-  ^9-  ^^-  ^    .^  .    >       .. 

1.  2.  Again  modelled  on  the  Greek  ;  Hdt.  viii.  143,  vw  5^  arrayy^We 
MapSovioi  (Sjs  'Aerjvaioi  Xkyovai,  ior  av  6  ijXios  t^v  avT^v  ohov  trj  rynfp 
Kal  vvv  ipx^rai,  pr/Kore  dpoKoyrjaciv  -qpias  Bip^rj. 

1.  3.  terra  feret  Stellas:  it  was  believed  that  the  stars  were  fixed 
into  the  sky ;  thus  Atlas,  '  axem  (  =  the  sky)  umero  torquet  stellis  arden- 
tibus  aptum,'  Verg.  Aen.  iv.  483.  .     r^  • 

1.  4.  dabit,  repeated,  by  a  mannerism  common  in  Ovid:  cp.  in.  I. 
(;3,  'me  miserum!  vereorque  locum  vereorque  potentem;'  y.  4.  2,  *Na- 
sonis  epistula  veni  Lassaque  facta  mari  lassaque  facta  via;'  12.  17,  *  ut 
veniant  patriae,  veniant  oblivia  vestri.' 

1.  7.  negabant,  '  men  used  to  deny,*  the  subject  being  general,  as  m 
Cic.  Rabir.  Post.  §  34.  '  q"ia  nunc  aiunt,  quod  tunc  negabant.' 

1.  8.  sit,  consecutive  subj. 
fides,  'belief.' 

I.  II.  cepere  oblivia,  from  Lucr.  vi.  121 3,  *atque  etiam  quosdam 

cepere  oblivia  rerum.' 

1   12.  adflictum,  ♦  fallen  from  my  high  estate.' 

1'  13.  respiceres,  'regard  the  interests  of.'  '  It  is  not  much  stronger 
than  our  "  respect,"  but  has  a  different  connotation,  implying  rather 
regard  for  one's  wishes  or  interests.  Cp.  Ter.  Haut.  70,  nullum  remtttis 
iempus,  neque  te  respids,  "  you  don't  consider  yourself."  '     (Wilkms  on 

Hor.  Epp.  i.  I.  105.) 

iacentem, '  prostrate '  in  misery,  opposite  to  dum  stetimus;  mir. 

9.  17*  T    1    ft- 

1.  14.  exsequias  prosequerere  meas,  i.e.  accompany  me  as  i  leic 

Rome.     Cp.  supr.  3-  89  ;  7-  3^  n.  .  1      .  j  *v 

1  16.  It  seems  very  doubtful  whether  Ovid  would  have  tolerated  the 
expression,  '  iacet  tibi  re  pro  viii,'  for  « est  tibi  re  pro  viii ; '  P.  i.  li.  I5» 
'hostibus  in  mediis  interque  pericula  versor,'  quoted  by  Lors,  is  not 
parallel ;  for  both  '  versor  in  mediis  hostibus '  and  '  versor  inter  pericula 
might  be  said  indifferently.  Accordingly,  I  have  ventured  to  msert  est 
after  viii,  a  word  which  might  easily  drop  out  before  sub. 

I.  17.  quid  =  ' how  small  a  thing;'  cp.  Cic.  Fam.  iv.  14.  4,  'velim 
indices,  me  .  .  .  quamquam  videam,  qui  sine  hoc  tempore  et  quid  (how 


72 


OVIDI  TRISTIA. 


KOTES.    T.  viii.  18-41. 


73 


V-\ 


little)  possim  .  .  .  saluti  tuae  praesto  futunim.'     Compare  the  use  of 
quantus  for  *  how  little,'  Hor.  S.  ii.  4.  81. 

fuit  =  *  fuisset.'  *  Latin  writers  often  use  verbs  and  phrases  ex- 
pressing duty,  necessity ,  propriety,  possibility,  etc.,  in  the  Past  Indicative 
Tenses  instead  of  the  Conjunctive,  to  indicate  that  it  was  proper  or 
possible  at  that  time  to  do  something  which,  however,  was  not  done.* 
Kennedy,  L.  Gr.  p.  336  :  cp.  on  6.  14  ;  infr.  9.  56. 

1.  18.  parte  is  adverbial.  The  reading  of  most  MSS.  alloquii  parte  tui 
can  hardly  be  right,  for  *a  share  in  your  consolation'  is  barely 
intelligible. 

1.  19.  lacrimam,  the  singular  is  intentionally  used  with  a  tinge  of 
pathos,  *  one  poor  tear.'  Gray's  Elegy :  *  He  gave  to  Misery  all  he  had, 
a  tear* 

1.  20.  tamen  [is  applicable  to  the  whole  line,  and  ficto  dolore  is 
abl.  of  circumstance.  *  If  you  could  not  drop  a  tear,  still  you  might 
affect  grief  and  bear  with  (uttering)  a  few  words.' — H.  J.  R.]  For  pati 
cp.  M.  2.  86,  where  Phoebus  says  of  the  horses  of  the  sun,  '  vix  me  . . ., 
patiuntur.' 

1.  21.  vel  dicere  saltern,  'And  at  least  if  you  will  to  say  what  mere 
strangers  do ;  and  to  follow  the  example  set  thee  by  a  nation's  words 
and  a  people's  face.'  He  might,  at  any  rate,  have  expressed  such  regret 
in  word  and  look  as  the  general  public  showed,  even  though  he 
afforded  no  active  consolation  such  as  even  strangers  gave.  The  idea 
of  dicere  is  expanded  in  1.  22,  and  ignoti  is  defined  2i%=populus. 

For  vel  =  * even,  if  you  like.'  Cp.  v.  6.  27,  'nee  procul  a  vero  est, 
quin  vel  pulsarit  amicum  ; '  and  for  the  expression  sequi  era,  ii.  88, 
*  quaque  Debuit  est  vultus  turba  secuta  tuos.* 

(vale  dicere,  the  reading  of  the  MSS,  cannot  stand,  as  cave  and 
r/V// (Phaedr.  iii.  6.  3;  Pers.  i.  108)  are  the  only  such  imperatives 
shortened  in  classical  writers  (see  on  i.  25) ;  and  Verg.  Eel.  iii.  79, '  vale, 
vale,  inquit,  lolla,*  is  a  mere  Grecism.) 

1.  23.  *  Last  of  all  to  behold  on  that  my  last  day  (at  Rome)  and  as 
long  as  thou  couldst,  those  mournful  looks  of  mine  that  thou  shouldst 
never  see  again.'  Notice  the  heavy  rhythm  of  tlie  line,  expressive  of 
the  heaviness  of  his  spirit.  Licuit  is  perfect  because  of  fuit,  the  tense 
in  both  clauses  being  generally  (cp.  9.  17  n.)  the  same  when  duin  =  '  all 
the  time  that.' 

numquam  =  *  numquam  amplius:'  *  de  rebus  non  iterum  agendis 
dicitur,  ut  sit  nicht  wieder'  Hand.  Tursell.  iv.  328,  who  quotes  this 
passage,  and  H.  ii.  99,  •  qui  me  numquam  visurus  abisti.' 

1.  26.  vale  is  here  treated  as  a  substantive  (agreeing  with  dicenduni), 
as  in  supr.  3.  57 ;  iii.  3.  88,  *  quod,  tibi  qui  mittit,  non  habet  ipse,  vale.* 


\ 


V. 


iucundis  Fi-^^^;^^^^^^^^^  The  participle  adscitus  is  equivalent  to 

1.  33.  quid,  agam  elliptical.  ^       ^  \  ^^^^^  ^h^u  have 

'cum  contra  adscitus  esses.     J'^^^/^f J*^^"^^^^^^     thou  who  wast  so 

35-  »«1"°7o ,  .  (,  .  Mosis  amicus  tristitiam  et  metus  Tradam 
ocean?  Cp.  ^f^-^^^^^\„,^^  mentis.'  The  adjective  maybe  iUus- 
LtdTy  Swrb:™^-  wTth'slars  and  .« W.  for  her  raiment,  Night 

"f  36":  tth^eis,  ep.  iv.  i.  47,  'U.que  soporiferae  l>:be--  si  pocda 
Lethetxemporis  ^dversi  sic  mihi  sensus  abest ; '  9.  2. '  et  tua  Lethaeis 

"T  ffXcidT' gentle;  as  in  iv.  5-  ^0,  •  dum  veniat  placido  mollior 
aula'deoTp  t  -  -S"   -  4-  9.  where  'placido  lectore'  =  ' gentle 

'T^L  Notice  the  deep  affection  conveyed  by  the  ^^^^  P^ 
„o«ns  mea-mihi.    MM  is  dat.  of  agent ;  and    est    is  omitted,  see 

''I'ln  The  common  place  that  the  hard-hearted  must  have  been  bom 
amon^he  h"cUs'is  found  first  in  Homer  II.  xvi.  35;  and  ,s  very 
common  in  Ovid,  see  iii.  ".  3:  H.vii.  35;  x.  132- 

sinistri,  supr.  2.  83  n.  ,.:  -     r,^  Am  iii 

1  i,    silicisvenae,fromVerg.Geor.i.i3.';:  Aen.vi  7.    Cp  Am.iu. 

.  '^IVnilT.;  .illces  et  vivum  in  pectore  ferrum  Qui  tenero  lacnmas 
6.  59/  Uehabe tet   ilicesetv^vum      p  .^^._^  ^^^^^^^^  ^^^.^^.^ 

lentus  in  ore  videt ;    H.  x.  109,    wv.  'neaueenimde 

lUic  qui  slices,  Thesea,  vincat.  habes;    M.  ix.  613.    neque 


74 


OVIDI   TRISTIA. 


f 


I 


I 


11 


tigride  natus,  Nee  rigidas  silices  solidumve  in  pectore  ferrum  Aut 
adamanta  gerit,  nee  lac  bibit  ille  leaenae.' 

1.  42.  ferri  semina,  an  imitation  of  the  *  ignis  semina'  of  Lucr.  vi. 
160,  and  *  semina  flammae  *  of  Verg.  Aen.  vi.  6.  Cp.  H.  x.  107  '  non 
poterant  figi  praecordia  ferrea  comu;'  M.  vii.  32 'Hoc  ego  si  patiar, 
turn  me  de  tigride  natam,  Tum  ferrum  et  scopulos  gestare  in  corde 
fatebor.* 

1.  43.  tenero  ducenda  palate,  '  to  be  sucked  by  thy  tender  mouth/ 
Ducere  ='io  suck,'  with  ul!era,  is  found  in  F.  ii.  419  'Marte  satos  scires: 
timor  afuit,  ubera  ducunt,  Nee  sibi  promissi  lactis  aluntur  ope ; '  M.  ix. 
358'materna  rigescere  sentit  Vbera,  nee  sequitur  ducentem  laeteus 
umor.' 

1. 45.  aut  =  'alioquin,'  'otherwise.'  As  in  M.  x.  50,  'Hanc  [Eurydicen] 
simul  et  legem  Rhodopeius  accipit  heros,  Ne  flectat  retro  sua  lumina  . . . 
aut  irrita  dona  futura  ;'  H.  x.  1 1 2  *  aui  semel  aeterna  nocte  premenda  fui  * 
('  I  should  never  have  slept  at  all,  or  else  I  should  have  slept  for  ever ; ') 
Hor.  A.  P.  42,  *  ordinis  haec  virtus  erit  et  venus,  aui  ego  fallor  ;  *  Verg. 
Aen.  X.  630,  *  Nunc  manet  insontem  gravis  exitus.  ata  ego  veri  Vana 
feror.'  This  use  is  not  confined  to  poetry,  but  is  found  even  in  Cicero : 
see  de  Or.  ii.  §  5,  *  omnia  .  .  .  bene  sunt  ei  dicenda,  qui  hoc  se  posse  pro- 
fitetur,  aut  eloquentiae  nomen  relinquendum  est;'  Fin.  iv.  §  72,  where 
Madvig  says,  *  persaepe  sic  paulo  laxius  per  aut  declaratur,  quid  futurum 
sit,  aut,  ut  hie,  quid  fieri  debeat  debueritve,  si  ab  eo,  quod  ante  dictum 
sit,  discedatur.' 

With  quam  nunc  must  be  supplied  'aliena  putas.'  Translate :  •  Else 
thou  wouldst  have  thought  my  misfortunes  less  strange  to  thee  than 
now  thou  dost;'  i.e.  you  would  have  thought  that  they  eame  home  to 
you  as  much  as  to  me.     See  Appendix  on  this  line. 

putares  .  .  .  agerere,  are  hypothetical  subjunctives,  expressing 
a  result  not  now  possible ;  R.  642  :  cp.  638  c.  For  the  meaning  of  age- 
rere see  on  i.  24. 

11.  47  foil.  '  But  since  to  the  losses  fate  has  brought  upon  me  there  is 
added  this  one  more,  that  our  past  is  robbed  of  its  consummation,  O  let 
me  but  forget  this  fault  of  thine,'  etc. 

carere  numeris  =  to  be  imperfect,  to  lack  perfection,  numeri 
being,  in  one  of  its  meanings,  the  parts  of  which  anything  is  made  up ; 
thus  in  Cic.  N.  D.  ii.  §  37  it  is  joined  y^\\\\.  partes,  'undique  aptum  atque 
perfectum  omnibus  suis  numeris  et  partibus.'  Cp.  M.  i.  427  *animalia 
.  .  .  quaedam  imperfecta  suisque  Trunca  vident  numeris ; '  Cie.  Fin.  iii. 
S  24,  'quae  autem  nos  aut  recta  aut  recte  facta  dicamus,  si  placet 
—  illi  autem  appellant  Karopdufiara  —  omnes  numeros  virtutis  con- 
tinent,' a  translation  of  the  Greek  Karopeufxa  5'  elvai  Xi'^ovai  KaerJKov 


NOTES.     I.  viii.  42 — S^' 


75 


rravras  hnixov  Tois  &pvBv^o{^.    Conversely. '  deesse  suis  numeris  =  to  be 
imperfect ;  Am.  iii.  7- 18/  cum  desit  numeris  ipsa  luventa  sms 

1  48.  tempera  prima  =  'tempora  prima  nostraeamicitiae,  thebegm- 
nina  of  our  friendship  lacks  its  remaining  component  parts,  1.  e.  does  not 

TXtde^:  Tupply  ut  from  ne,  49-     So  in  9.  8  ut  is  understood 
from  the  preceding  «/;  and  in  11.  30  ne  from  the  precedmg  ne. 

El.  IX. 

There  is  much  probability  that  the  Carus,  to  ^'^^^.f^^^J^,  ^^^^^^^^ 
scribed,  is  addressed  in  this  El.  as  well  as  m  T.  m.  5.  This  Carus,  himself 

a  poet  who  wrote  an  epic  on  the  -^-^-^f /^  «^  J^^/ ^s  P 
tutor  Jf  the  sons  of  Germanicus  Caesar,  adopted  son  of  ^erius  (P. 
V  T,  47).  This  influential  position  is  probably  the  success  alluded  to 
in*  the  present  poem  ;  for  though  we  are  forbidden  by  chronology  from 
suppXthaf  Caligula,  bom^.D.  12,  was  under  the  supervision  of 
Carus  ^'this  tim^,  slice  he  was  not  bom  when  this  poem  was  written, 
AD  9  yet  Carus  might  possibly  have  been  already  entrusted  with  the 
chLe  of  the  child  Nero,  the  first  son  of  Germanicus  and  Agnppma 
who  was  bom  A.  D.  6,  and  was  at  this  time  about  three  years  old,  and 
possibly  of  Drusus,  bom  in  the  summer  of  A.D.  7  C^urneaux.  Tacitu., 
D.  144;  Lorentz,  p.  48  ;  Hennig,  p.  26). 

^  Many  inferior  manuscripts  begin  a  fresh  elegy  at  39,  which  has  led 
Merkel  to  divide  this  elegy  into  two  distinct  poems,  supposing  each 
par  to  be  addressed  to  a  separate  person,  and  makmg  the  second  begin 
atVy  Besides  the  MSS.  evidence,  he  argues  that  the  subjects  of  the 
twfparTs  are  distinct:  in  1-36  the  poet  deplores  the  deserUon  of 
Ms  frlnds  in  37-66  he  congratulates  a  friend  on  his  success  But  (i) 
ihe  S^^^  including  the  best  LGV.  ^  do  not  so  divide  the 

poe^;  ind  fhose  whii  do  so,  divide  it  at  39  not  at  37.  ^^  ^^^  ^^^^^^^ 
proves  little;  for  there  are  innumerable  passages  m  the  Tnstia  ^vhere 
Se  beginning  of  a  fresh  elegy  is  noted  at  quite  impossible  Pl-es  in  the 
nferio?  MSS^  so  as  to  destroy  their  authority  m  this  respect  Thus  m 
fSenth 'century  MS.  at  Arras,  examined  by  me  whicWrks^^^ 
division  in  this  El.  at  39.  a  new  poem  is  begun  at  1  .  ^7,  ^^/'^^^^^ 
and  conversely,  two  elegies,  or  even  more,  are  constantly  ^tedmto  one. 
thus  iv  4  5,  6  are  written  in  the  same  MS.  as  one  poem.   (2)  The  argu- 


I  In  H  there  is  a  mark  in  the  margin  at  39  denoting  a  fresh  elegy,  but 
apparently  by  another  hand  than  that  of  the  scribe  who  wrote  the  text. 


v| 


76 


OVWl  TRISTIA. 


NOTES.    I.  ix.  I-13. 


77 


f 


N 


ment  of  the  poem,  as  analysed  below,  gives  excellent  sense,  and  shows  a 
homogeneous  whole.  The  description  of  the  writer's  own  adversity  in 
the  first  part  leads  him,  by  a  natural  contrast,  to  speak  in  the  second  of 
his  friend's  prosperity. 

Summary. — Mayest  thou,  my  friend,  reach  the  limit  of  thy  life 
without  any  accident  such  as  has  befallen  me  (1-4).  But  be  not 
deceived  by  thy  success ;  remember  that  though  all  are  friends  to  the 
prosperous,  when  once  the  light  of  his  fortune  is  obscured  the  troop  of 
friends  vanishes  away  like  a  shadow  (5-14).  I  pray  that  this  may  not 
be  true  in  thy  case,  which  has  been  but  too  true  in  mine.  When  mis- 
fortune befel  me,  all  turned  their  backs  upon  me,  fearing  to  bring  mis- 
chief on  themselves  if  they  stood  by  me  (15-22).  And  yet  they  need 
not  have  feared  ;  for  Caesar's  great  soul  can  appreciate  constancy  even 
in  an  enemy  (23-26).  And  examples  of  such  appreciation  abound  in 
the  storied  legends  of  antiquity  (27-34).  And  if  kind  feeling  is  ex- 
hibited towards  enemies,  my  friends  should  surely  show  it  to  me.  Alas! 
that  my  words  can  move  so  few,  despite  that  my  estate  is  so  wretched  as 
to  deser\'e  all  commiseration  (35-38).  But  sad  though  I  am  for  myself, 
I  am  cheered  by  thy  success,  which  I  foresaw  long  ago.  Thy  character, 
thy  blameless  life,  thy  culture  and  address,  all  combined  to  make  me 
predict  it  (30-52).  Therefore  I  congratulate  thee  that  thy  genius  has 
been  discovered,  though  I  wish  that  my  own  had  remained  in  obscurity, 
and  not  brought  about  my  ruin  (53-58).  Yet  thou  knowest  that  my 
Art  of  Love  was  but  a  youthful  production ;  that  it  was  not  earnest,  and 
that  my  character  is  pure.  Therefore,  though  my  conduct,  I  know, 
cannot  be  defended,  it  still  may  be  excused ;  I  pray  thee  find  for  it  some 
excuse,  and  act  as  my  defender  (59-66). 


1. 1.  '  May  it  be  thy  lot  to  reach  life's  goal  without  a  stumble,  thou  who 
readest  this  work  of  mine  in  no  unfriendly  mood.' 

The  metaphor,  which  has  passed  into  our  own  language,  is  from  a 
chariot-race  in  the  circus,  in  which  there  were  two  me^ae  or  turning- 
posts,  one  at  each  extremity  of  the  course,  the  first  {me^a  prima)  from 
which  the  chariots  started,  the  second  {me fa  secunda)  where  the  first 
turn  was  made.  There  were  seven  laps  or  circuits  in  a  race,  and  skill  in 
driving  consisted  in  shaving  so  near  the  meiae  as  neither  to  come  into 
collision  with  them  (InofiFenso),  nor  to  allow  the  antagonist  to  cut  in 
between.  The  meta,  from  which  the  start  was  made,  served  also  as  the 
winning-post,  hence  the  word  is  frequently  used  metaphorically  for  the 
goal  of  action  or  life  (Rich.  s.  v.  meia  i).    We  find  it  so  used  in  the  sin- 


gular in  A.  A.  ii.  727/ ad  metam  properate  simul,  and  m  the  plural 
T.  iv.  8.  35,  *  nee  procul  a  metis,  quas  paene  tenere  videbar,  Cumculo 
gravis  est  facta  ruina  meo.*     [See  my  note  on  Hor.  A.  P.  412.— A.  b.  W.J 

On  inofifenso  see  v.  28  n.  in  Appendix. 

1  3.  possent,  optative  use  of  the  subj.  In  such  cases  the  present  and 
perfect  subj.  are  used  of  wishes  which  are  conceived  of  as  P^f^k  while 
the  imperf.  subj.  is  used  of  wishes  which  can  no  longer  be  fulfilled,  the 
pluperf.  when  the  wish  could  no  longer  have  been  fulfilled  m  the  past 
Thus  utinam  possim,  = '  I  wish  I  may  be  able ; '  utinam  possem  = '  I  wish 
I  could.'  but  I  cannot.  In  the  present  passage,  though  givmg  vent  to  a 
wish  for  his  friend's  lifelong  prosperity,  he  expresses  himself  m  a  tone  ot 
despondency :  I  wish  that  my  prayers,  which  have  been  of  no  avail  m 
my  own  case,  could  have  weight  in  yours,  though  I  feel  that  my  prayers 
are  poweriess.     Thus  there  is  no  reason  to  read  posstnt  against  the 

balance  of  MSS.  authority.  1  •         1, 

1  5    donee  eris  . . .  numerabis,  the  tenses  correspond,  as  usual  in  such 

cases,  in  the  two  clauses  ;  R.  695.     For  the  sentiment  cp.  supr.  527. 
17    adspicis  ut  veniant.    The  subj.  is  used  because  of  the  indirect 

question  depending  on  «/=*how?'   Cp.  v.  14-  35,  '  Adspicis,  ut  longo 

teneat  laudabilis  aevo  Nomen  inexstinctum  Penelopea  fides  i 

Translate:  *  Dost  thou  see  how  doves  come  trooping  to  shelters  that 

are  white,  while  yon  mouldering  turret   houses  never  a  bird  i      bee 

^I^  I  o.  'ad  amissas  opes  = '  to  one  who  has  lost  his  wealth.' 
1'  II.  radios  per  soils.  Notice  the  anastrophe  of  the  preposition 
which  is  not  uncommon  in  Ovid,  either  (a)  the  -^stantive  preceding  and 
an  adjective  following,  P.  i.  i.  i3,;novitate  sub  ipsa  ;  2  15  ho  ibus 
in  mediis  ;'  35, '  lignum  in  ullum  ;'  5.  27. '  tempus  ad  hoc  (cp.  Ibis  i)  , 
or  (^),  as  here,  between  a  substantive  and  dependent  gen . ;  cp.  mfr.  10^ 
,5,'«,are  in  Hellesj'P.i.  2.  82,'terga  per  amnis;  8.  33»  P"  ^^^« 
loca  ad  urbis  ; '  F.  iii.  733.  '  nomine  ab  auctons.'  In  6. 33  both  substan- 
tive  and  adjective  precede  the  preposition. 

1  1 2    hie  is  used  of  the  sun,  though  more  remote  m  the  sentence  than 
umbra,  because  the  disappearance  of  the  sun  precedes  that  of  the  shade 

in  order  of  time  :  see  on  2.  24.  .      ,     ,       /•  n 

1  13  Note  the  ingenuity  of  the  simile.  J»st  as  his  shadow  fo  ows 
a  man  who  walks  in  the  sunlight,  so  the  fiekle  crowd  of  ctotsfoUov^ 
a  man  To  long  as  he  enjoys  the  sunlight  of  fortune  ;  but  when  fortune  s 
^unl^h  is  hidden,  the  clients  too  vanish  like  shadows.  VVash.etUp.  96) 
hink^s  that  this  is  one  of  the  passages  in  which  Ov.d  shows  h.s  study  of 
Lucretius ;  cp.  Lucr.  iv.  364  »•  *»  the  senfment  see  supr.  5.  ^9  •  v. 
8.  7£f. 


'  I 


V 


•78 


OVIDI   TRISTIA. 


1.  14.  nocte.  The  word  is  intended  to  suggest  the  gloom  of  mis- 
fortune, in  which  all  the  brightness  of  life  is  obscured,  and  is  con. 
trasted  with  lumina. 

1.  15.  *  I  pray  that  thou  mayest  always  have  cause  to  think  these  tales 
unreal,  though  we  needs  must  confess  them  real  in  consequence  of  what 
has  befallen  me.' 

1.  16.  eventu  meo,  causal  abl.  Cp.  ii.  125  ;  Cic.  pro  Mur.  §  55, 
*huius  eventum  fortunamque  miserari,' 

1.  17.  dum  stetimus  .  .  .  habebat  is  irregular,  for  where  dum  = 
*  so  long  as '  is  used,  the  tense  is  generally  the  same  in  both  clauses  (so 
the  usage  is  given  in  Kiihner,  ii.  907  ;  K.  695  ;  L.  Gr.  1667  ;  see  Holtze, 
ii.  128;  cp.  8.  23  n.).  In  Cic.  where  dum  is  used  with  the  perfect, 
there  is  always  a  perf.  in  the  principal  clause,  except  in  one  doubtful 
instance  of  a  future  in  Verr.  iii.  §  224  (see  Merguet,  Lex.  Cic).  But  with 
regard  to  other  writers,  the  statement  of  the  usage  in  the  grammars 
requires  to  be  modified.  For  besides  this  passage,  dum  with  perf.  is 
found  with  an  imperf.  in  the  main  clause  in  iii.  7.  23,  *  dum  licuit,  tua 
saepe  mihi,  tibi  nostra  legebam  ; '  Verg.  Aen.  i.  268,  *  Ilus  erat^  dum  res 
stetit  Ilia  regno  ; '  and  in  Tac.  (whose  style  is  somewhat  poetical)  A.  iii. 
31.  6,  *  dum  ea  ratio  barbaro/«;V  .  .  .  Romanum  inpune  ludificabatur  \* 
vi.  40.  4,  *  Lepida  .  .  .  impunita  agebat,  dum  superfuit  pater  Lepidus.* 
And  conversely,  dum,  with  the  imperf.  is  found  where  there  is  a  perf  in 


the  main  clause  :  T.  v.  3.  5,  *  inter  quos 


dum  me  mea  fata  sine- 


bant  .  .  .  ,  pars/«t.'     In  P.  ii.  3.  26,  dum  with  perf.  stands  in  apposi- 
tion to  a  perf  participle. 

stare  = '  to  stand  unshaken  in  prosperity,'  is  the  opposite  of  iacere, 
8.  13.   Cp.  V.  14.  21,  *tua,  dum  stetimus,  turpi  sine  crimine  mansit .  .  . 
probitas ;'  Verg.  Aen.  i.  268  (quoted  above),  and  ii.  88  ;  and  for  the 
origin  of  the  metaphor,  M.  iii.  131,  *  iam  stabant  Thebae.* 
esset  is  consecutive  subj.,  R.  704. 

1,  18.  ambitiosa,  *ambitiosus  et  qui  ambit  et  qui  ambitur,*  Gellius, 
ix.  12.  Here  the  word  is  usually  construed  as  passive,  *a  house  well- 
known,  yet  not  greatly  courted.'  But  as  in  most  other  passages  Ovid  uses 
'ambitiosus*  actively,  as  *  honour-loving,'  it  is  better  to  explain  it 
so  here :  '  A  house  well-known,  yet  not  eager  to  attract  admirers.' 
For  ambitiosus  see  iv.  3.  68 ;  v.  7.  28  ;  Am.  i.  i.  14 ;  ii.  4.  48  ;  A.  A. 
ii.  254;  M.  xiii.  289 ;  F.  v.  298  ;  P.  iii.  i.  84. 

1.  19.  inpulsa,  '  inpellere'  is  *  to  push  from  its  balance  :*  Verg.  Aen. 
ii.  465, 'turrim  .  .  .  convellimus  altis  Sedibus  inpulimusque." 

omnes  timuere  ruinam,  '  all  feared  its  falling  mass.'  Cp.  iii.  5.  5, 
*  nt  cecidi,  cunctique  metu  fugere  ruinam,  Versaque  amicitiae  terga  dedere 
meae;  *  P.  iii.  3.  7, '  ignoscimus  illis,  Qui  cum  fortuna  terga  dedere  fugae.* 


NOTES,     I.   ix.    14-27. 


79 


1.  20.  cauta  dedere  fugae =*cauti  dedere  fugae,'  supr.  6.  33.  Cp. 
P.  iii.  2.  15,  *me  quoque  amicoram  nimio  terrore  metuque,  Non  odio 
quidam  destituere  mei.  Non  illis  pietas,  non  officiosa  voluntas  Defiiit : 
adversos  extimuere  deos.' 

1.  21.  *  Nor  do  I  wonder  if  they  fear  the  cruel  bolts  by  the  breath  of 
whose  fire  all  the  neighbourhood  is  wont  to  be  blasted.*  The  thunder- 
bolt is  regarded  as  surrounded  by  an  emanation  of  hot  air,  which 
breathes  as  it  were  upon  whatever  it  comes  in  contact  with  ;  the  image 
is  graphic  enough,  and  will  come  home  to  anyone  who  has  stood 
near  a  large  furnace,  and  it  is  unnecessary  to  introduce  the  idea  of 
*  the  wind  of  the  thunderbolt's  motion '  as  is  done  by  Conington  on  Aen. 

ii.  649.  T»    •••    /c 

1.  22.  adflari  does  not  imply  total  destruction;  see  P.  in.  o.  17, 
'  Fulminis  adflatos  interdum  vivere  telis  Vidimus,  et  refici,  non  prohibente 
love ;'  Liv.  xxviii.  23. 4,  *  correpti  alii  flamma  sunt,  alii  ambusti  adflatu 
vaporis  ;'  XXX.  6.  7,  'magna  pars  saucii  adflatique  incendio  effugerunt ;' 
xxxix.  22.  3,  'ignesque  caelestes  multifariam  orti  adussisse  complurium 
levi  adflatu  vestimenta  maxime  dicebantur  ;'  Serv.  on  Aen.  ii.  649,^*tria 
sunt  fulminum  genera:  est  quod  adflat,  quod  incendit,  quod  findit.' 

1.  23.  remanentem.  *  Re-'  gives  the  force  of  backward  action : 
thus  manere=^'io  stay;'  r^;7/a«^r^  =  ' to  stay  behind/  *  to  remain. 
Kennedy,  L.  Gr.  p.  265  ;  Roby,  L.  Gr.  2101. 

1.  24.  quamUbet  inviso  in  hoste,  '  in  the  case  of  an  enemy  however 
detested,'  *  in  the  case  of  the  most  detested  enemy.* 
For  in  cp.  infr.  35,  and  see  on  5.  39. 

This  use  of  ^«^w//^^/ qualifying  an  adjective  is  particularly  charac- 
teristic of  Ovid.  Cp.  infr.  10.  6  ;  H.  vi.  7,  'quamlibet  adverse  signatur 
epistula  vento ;'  140,  'quamlibet  infirmis  ipse  dat  arma  dolor;'  xi. 
124,  '  umaque  nos  habeat  quamlibet  arta  duos  ; '  Am.  i.  7. 66,  'quamlibet 
infi^as  adiuvat  ira  manus ; '  A.  A.  iii.  312,  'Sirenes  .  .  .  quamlibet 
admissas  detinuere  rates  ; '  597.  *  quamlibet  exstinctos  iniuna  suscitat 
ignes;'  642,  *  cedat  lecto  quamlibet  Aegra  suo  ;'  P.  m.  4-  io»  'quam- 
libet invitum  difficilemque  tenent  (sc.  magni  poetae)  ; '  iv.  4.  45,  'quam- 
libet absentem,  qua  possum,  mente  videbo.'  See  Kennedy,  L.  Gr.  p.  480. 
For  the  sentiment  cp.  supr.  5.  39. 

1.  36.  si  quid,  supr.  7.  i  n.  .  ,_    ,     1         j 

1.  27.  For  the  legend  see  on  5.  21.  Ovid  here  deals  with  the  legends 
somewhat  freely,  as  is  his  manner :  for  the  ordinary  versions  say  nothing 
of  approval  by  Thoas  of  the  conduct  of  Pylades,  of  Hector's  praises 
of  Patroclus,  or  Pluto's  sorrow  for  Theseus ;  and  indeed  that  this  is 
all  his  own  fanciful  addition,  the  poet  hints  by  the  use  of  the  word 
credibiU  in  34. 


8o 


OVIDI  TRISTIA. 


NOTES.     I.  IX.   29-50. 


81 


f 


ff 


1.  29.  Actoridae.  Patroclus,  the  grandson  of  Actor,  andsonofMenoe- 
tius  (hence  called  Menoetiades,  v.  4.  25),  was  the  chosen  comrade  of 
Achilles,  whom  he  accompanied  to  Troy.  When  the  Trojans  were  burst- 
ing into  the  Greek  camp  he  put  on  the  armour  of  Achilles,  who  himself, 
inconsequence  of  a  quarrel,  had  retired  from  the  fight,  and  when  Apollo 
had  first  stripped  him  of  his  armour,  and  Euphorbus  wounded  him,  was 
killed  by  Hector  (II.  xvi.)  ;  in  vengeance  for  which  Hector  was  himself 
slain  by  Achilles  (II.  xxii.). 

I.  30.  Aristotle,  Rhet.  i.  6.  24,  remarks  on  the  importance  of  praises 
when  coming  from  the  mouth  of  an  enemy,  who  is  not  likely  easily  to 
allow  merit,  uanep  yap  ircLvres  tjSt}  ufwKoyovffiv,  (I  xal  01  Kaicuis  viirov- 
eoTfs,  •  for  this  is  as  good  as  an  universal  admission,  if  even  those  who 
have  suffered  at  our  hands  praise  us.'  Cope  refers  to  Verg.  Aen.  xi.  282, 
where  '  the  prowess  of  Aeneas  could  not  be  more  highly  extolled  than 
by  the  praises  extorted  from  his  enemy  Diomede.' 

1.  31.  iret.  Notice  the  force  of  the  imperf.,  'They  say  that  Pluto 
grieved  because  Theseus  was  coming  down  to  Hades  to  accompany  his 
friend.' 

1.  33.  See  on  v.  23,  supr. 

1.35.  miseris,  dat.  of  possessor:  *  kindly  feeling  is  shown  to  the 
wretched  too  (as  well  as  to  these  illustrious  and  equal  friends) ;  it  is 
approved  even  in  the  case  of  an  enemy.'  Cp.  Verg.  Aen.  i.  462. '  sunl 
lacrimae  rerum,  et  mentem  mortalia  tangunt.'  For  '  et '  =  *  quamvis ' 
cp.  M.  xiii.  498,  *cecidisti  et  femina  ferro  : '  for  in  see  on  5.  39. 

I.  39.  quamvis  is  used  adverbially  to  qualify  maestissima,  without 
affecting  the  mood  of  the  verb.     Cp.  n.  on  quamlibet,  supr.  24. 

1.40.  processu,  'advancement:'  cp.  iv.  5.  25,  *sic  tua  processus 
habeat  fortuna  perennes,'  and  Mayor  on  luv.  i.  39,  *  in  caelum  quos 
evehit  optima  summi  Nunc  via  processus.' 

I.  41.  iam  tunc,  'even  at  that  time  long  ago,'  equivalent  in  meaning 
to  iam  tumy  which  is  the  usual  Augustan  form.  See  L.  and  S.  s.  v. 
iam,  B.  2  b. 

II.  41-46  are  closely  connected  together  in  sense.  Translate :  *  I  saw, 
dearest  friend,  that  this  success  would  befall  thee  even  at  that  time  long 
ago  when  the  breeze  was  less  impetuously  speeding  the  bark  of  thy 
fortunes  along  that  course  ;  if  there  be  any  value  in  character  or  a  spot- 
less life,  then  there  was  none  whom  we  should  have  priced  above 
thyself;  or  if  any  man  has  exalted  his  head  above  his  fellows  by  gentle 
culture — then  we  see  that  thy  eloquence  lends  justice  to  each  and  every 
cause.' 

The  two  couplets  43-44,  45-46,  give  two  reasons  why  Ovid 
formerly  prophesied  his  friend's  subsequent  success;  (1)  his  high  character 


and  stainless  life,  (2)  his  intellectual  and  oratorical  ability.  The  sen- 
tence runs  smoothly  down  to  45,  erat  and  extulit  being  past  tenses  {est 
is  present  because  the  truth  applies  equally  to  all  time)  :  at  46  there  is  a 
slight  anacoluthon  or  change  of  construction  ;  we  should  have  expected 
something  like  '  tu  supra  ceteros  caput  efferebas.'  Instead*  of  this,  in 
his  eagerness  to  do  justice  to  his  friend's  later  success  at  the  bar,  he 
presses  on  to  the  present  time,  and  finishes  by  saying,  *  we  see  that  you  are 
now  a  most  capable  pleader,  the  best  possible  practical  proof  of  culture.* 

ista  is  abl.  of  the  road  by  which :  for  the  metaphor  of  the  ship 
see  on  5.  17.  [Or  perhaps  abl.  of  comparison,  'than  the  breeze  which 
you  now  enjoy.' — A.  S.  W.] 

pluris  is  gen.  of  price,  used  by  the  false  analogy  of  the  locative 

tanti,  quanti,  etc. 

extulit  ['  has  ever  raised,'  hence  proverbially  a  gnomic  perfect. 

— A.S.W.] 

eloquio  is  instrum.  abl.  The  word  is  a  poetical  form  for  elo- 
quentia,  used  once  by  Verg.  Aen.  xi.  383,  once  by  Hor.  A.  P.  217,  and 
frequently  by  Ovid  :  see  iv.  10.  17  ;  Am.  i.  8.  20 ;  A.  A.  i.  462  ;  M.  xiii. 
63  and  322  ;  F.  iv.  iii  ;  P.  ii.  2.  51,  and  v.  40  and  56.  It  is  found  also 
in  late  prose. 

1.  47.  dixi  tibi  protinus  ipsi,  '  I  told  thee  to  thy  face.' 

I.  48.  scaena.  The  comparison  of  the  sphere  of  an  orator  to  the  stage 
is  found  in  Cic.  de  Or.  ii.  §  338,  '  maxima  oratori  quasi  scaena  videtur 
contio  esse:'  see  also  Lael.  §  97,  where  many  passages  are  collected 
by  Seyffert.  The  metaphor  of  the  stage  applied  to  human  action  oc- 
curs in  P.  i.  5.  69,  'hoc  mea  contenta  est  infelix  musa  theatro;'  iii.  i. 
59,  'quicquid  ages  igitur,  scaena  spectabere  magna.'  The  reader  will 
remember  Shakspeare's, '  All  the  world 's  a  stage,  And  all  the  men  and 
women  merely  players  ;  They  have  their  exits  and  their  entrances.  And 
one  man  in  his  time  plays  many  parts,  His  acts  being  seven  ages.' 

II.  49  foil.  It  is  tempting  to  suppose  that  Ovid  recollected  Cic.  Fam. 
vi.  6.  7,  *  non  igitur  ex  alitis  involatu  nee  a  cantu  sinistro  oscinis,  ut  in 
nostra  disciplina  est,  nee  ex  tripudiis  solistimis  aut  soniviis  tibi  auguror, 
sed  habeo  alia  signa,  quae  observem.' 

11.  49-50.  Three  out  of  the  five  sorts  of  augury  employed  by  the 
Romans  are  mentioned  here— (i)  ex  quadrupedibus,  here  from  the  in- 
spection of  the  entrails  of  sheep  ;  {2)  ex  caelo,  here  from  the  sound  of 
thunder  on  the  left ;  (3)  ex  avibus,  those  which  gave  auguries  either 
(a)  by  their  note  {lingua)^  called  oscines,  or  {b)  by  their  flight  {penna), 
called  allies.    See  Diet.  A.  175  b. 

fibrae,  *  filaments,'  are  the  extremities  of  the  liver,  from  the  in- 
spection of  which  auguries  were  taken:  Tibull.  ii.  i.  25,  'viden  ut  feli- 

G 


82 


OVIDl  TRISTIA. 


NOTES.     I.  ix.  50-66. 


83 


^ 


cibus  extis  Significet  placidos  nuntia  fibra  deos.'   See  Verg.  Geor.  i.  484, 

Conington.  . 

tonitpus  sinistri  :  the  left  was  the  favourable  quarter  in  Roman 
augury,  just  as  the  right  was  in  Greek ;  Cic.  de  Div.  ii.  §  1 1.  The  dif- 
ference is  to  be  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  the  augurs  of  the 
Greeks  looked  towards  the  north,  those  of  the  Romans  towards  the  south ; 
and  the  east  was  uniformly  the  quarter  of  good,  and  the  west  of  evil 
omen.  F.  iv.  833,  *  Ille  precabatur,  tonitru  dedit  omina  laevo  luppiter, 
et  laevo  fulmina  missa  polo.  Augurio  laeti  iaciunt  fundamina  cives.' 
With  50  cp.  Verg.  Aen.  iii.  361,  '  Et  volucrum  linguas  et  praepetis 

omina  pennae.* 

1.  51.  The  order  is  *  augurium  {mihi)  ratio  est  et  coniectura  futuri^ 
*  my  augury  is  based  on  reasoning  and  inference  about  the  future,'  ratio 
et  coniectura  futuri  being  a  hendiadys,  conveying  a  single  notion,  com- 
pletely expressed  by  ratio^  but  more  closely  defined  by  coniectura 
futuri.  For  the  hendiadys,  a  not  very  common  figure  in  Ov.,  cp.  M.  iv. 
757  (of  Perseus  carrying  off  Andromeda), '  protinus  Andromedan  et  tanti 
praemia  facti  indotata  rapit.* 

coniectura  means  specially  a  prophecy  or  conclusion  drawn 
from  dreams,  and  coniector  an  interpreter  of  dreams,  joined  by  Cic.  N.  D. 
i-  §  55  with  *  haruspices  augures,  harioli,  vates  ;  *  cp.  De  Or.  i.  §  95. 
For  the  dependent  objective  gen.  cp.  Cic.  de  Div.  ii.  §  129,  *etiamsi 
fieri  possit  coniectura  vera  somniorum,  tamen  isti,  qui  profitentur,  earn 
facere  non  possint ;'  Verr.  iii.  §  121,  *vos  coniecturam  totius  provin- 
ciae  (contrast  *  coniecturam  de  toU  Sicilia  facere/  §  106)  nonne  facie- 
tis  V  pro  Mur.  §  9. 

1.  56.  expediit  =  '  it  would  have  been  best  for  me,'  see  on  8.  17. 

1.  57.  The  serious  profession  of  a  barrister  is  contrasted  with  the 
light  nature  of  the  Ars  Amatoria. 

artes  has  a  different  sense  in  57  and  58  ;  in  57  it  means  the  craft, 
profession  of  a  barrister,  in  58  it  means  the  art  of  love. 

1.  59.  Ovid  frequently  asserts  that  his  life  is  pure,  though  his  verse  is 
not  (ii.  349  ff.  ;  iii.  2.  5  ;  iv.  10.  67) ;  and  the  same  defence  is  made  by 
Catullus,  Martial,  and  Pliny  the  younger.  (Ellis,  Comm.  Catull.  p.  47.) 

1.  61.  vetus  hoc  carmen.  The  Ars  Amatoria  was  probably  published 
in  B.  C.  2,  when  the  poet,  who  was  bom  in  B.  C.  43,  was  41  years  old, 
and  the  work  had  probably  occupied  some  years  in  writing  before  that 
date ;  so  that  though  this  book  was  written  A.  D.  9,  when  he  was  51 
years  old,  he  may  fairly  speak  of  the  Ars  as  vetus  carmen,  and  of  himself, 
when  he  composed  it,  as  iuvenis,  which  roughly  comprehends  men 
between  the  ages  of  20  and  40.  Cp.  ii.  339»  '  Ad  leve  rursus  opus, 
iuvenalia  carmina,  veni,  Et  falso  movi  pectus  amore  meum.' 


ludere  is  specially  used  of  writing  love-poetry;  Am.  iii.  i.  27, 
'quod  tenerae  cantent,  lusit  tua  musa,  puellae.'  In  the  active  ludere 
would  take  a  cognate  ace.  {Judere  cartnen),  but  when  used  as  herem  the 
passive,  the  cognate  ace.  becomes  the  subject ;  see  Palmer  on  Hor.  S.  1. 

6. 126. 

1.  62.  ut  .  .  .  sic,  •  though  .  .  .  yet,'  quite  parallel  to  57,  58. 
*  Though  they  are  of  such  a  sort  as  we  cannot  approve,  yet  still  they  are 
persiflage.'     With  this  meaning  «/ usually  precedes  sic  :  see  63,  64.  ii. 

75,  423  ff. ;  M.  i.  45»  370.  404*  iii-  '^^-       ,  ,  .         ,  ^ 

1.  63.  color  =  *  artful  palliation  of  a  fault  ('  m  malam  partem,  ut  pro 
subtiliter  exquisita  defensione,  praetextu,  excusatione,'  Forcell.)  ;  the 
metaphor  is  drawn  from  the  colouring  put  on  pictures.  Cp.  luv.  vi. 
279,  '  die  aliquem,  sodes,  hie,  Quintiliane,  colorem ;  *  Quintil.  xi.  i.  81, 
*quod  si  nulla  contingit  excusatio,  sola  colorem  habet  paenitentia. 
[•  Color'  is  a  regular  term  in  rhetoric  and  is  frequent,  e.g.  in  the  elder 
Seneca ;  e.  g.  Contr.  I.  i.  §§  16,  17,  18,  etc.— H.  J.  R.] 

1  66  The  construction  is  '  Quo  bene  coepisti  (ire),  sic  (eo;  bene 
semper  eas.*     Cp.  P.  iii.  7.  20  '  Parcaque  ad  extremum  qua  mea  coepit 

eat. 

El.  X. 

This  elegy  contains  a  description  of  the  latter  part  of  the  poet's 
voyage  to  Tomi.  He  sailed,  as  we  have  seen  (supr.  iv.  introd.),  in 
the  first  instance  probably  from  Brundisium,  and,  after  encountering  a 
violent  storm  on  the  Ionian  sea,  passed  through  the  Corinthian  gulf,  and 
landed  at  Lechaeum,  the  western  harbour  of  Corinth. 

He  then  apparently  purchased  a  fresh  ship,  which  was  small  in  size  \ 
but  a  fast  sailer  (3-6),  and  a  good  sea-vessel  (7-8).  Embarking  on  this 
ship  at  Cenchreae,  the  harbour  of  Corinth  on  the  Saronic  gulf,  he 
pursued  his  voyage  straight  across  the  Aegean  into  the  entrance  of  the 
Hellespont.  Arrived  here,  for  some  reason  which  he  does  not  cleariy 
state,  he  turned  the  ship  about^,  and  sailed  to  the  left  (17),  i.e.  the 

1  P  i  4  55  ♦  nos/ra^i7//i^wo  vastumsulcavimusaequor:' Munro, Criticisms 
and  Eiu'cidations  of  Catullus,  p.  12.  conjectures  that  it  would  have  been 
between  20  and  50  tons  burden. 

a  We  may  perhaps  suppose  that  he  suffered  a  storm  which  drove  him  from 
the  open  sea  to  seek  shelter  in  the  Hellespont ;  and  that  when  it  was  over— 
which  happened  soon,  simul,  15— he  turned  back  to  revisit  interesting  spots, 
and  to  stay- himself  for  some  time  at  Samothrace  ;  since  he  was  not  pressed 
for  time,  but  was  sailing  in  his  own  vessel.  Munro's  explanation,  p.  12. 
that  he  encountered  contrary  winds  in  the  Hellespont,  which  obliged  him  to 
beat  about,  seems  based  on  pressing  too  greatly  the  nieaning  of  fessa 
carina,  20 :  which  may   well   refer  merely  to   the  length  of  the  voyage 

G  2 


84 


OVIDI  TRISTIA. 


NOTES.     I.  X.   I. 


85 


^ 


southern  shore  of  the  Hellespont,  and  after  touching  at  Ophrynium,  a 
town  in  the  Troad  between  Dardania  and  Rhoeteum,  where  was  a 
celebrated  grove  dedicated  to  Hector  (hence  Hectorisurbs,  17)  in  a  con- 
spicuous position,  which  may  well  have  attracted  Ovid's  attention,  and 
caused  him  to  visit  a  place  of  such  legendary  interests  he  proceeded  to 
the  island  of  Imbros,  off  the  western  coast  of  the  Thracian  Chersonnese ; 
and  thence  to  the  island  of  Samothrace  {Thrciciam  Sainon,  20).  Here 
he  landed  {litora  nacta)  on  the  north  coast  of  the  island,  near  the 
famous  Zerynthian  cavern  of  Hecate  (19),  which  was  one  of  the  most 
celebrated  seats  of  the  worship  of  that  mysterious  goddess  ^ 

At  Samothrace  he  parted  from  his  ship  (21),  and  stayed  some  time 
seeking  rest  and  refreshment '  in  a  cultivated  place  after  the  dangers  and 
discomforts  of  the  sea*  (Munro,  p.  13);  and  there  he  wrote  the  present 

poem  (22  and  45). 

The  ship,  which  doubtless  contained  most  of  his  effects,  servants,  etc. 
was  sent  on  before  him  to  Tomi,  while  he  himself  crossed  over  to 


from  Greece ;  and  by  levi  venfo  is  meant  a  wind  insufficient  to  propel  a 
ship  at  a  good  pace,  so  that  the  vessel  would  be  wearied  by  the  tardi- 
ness of  sailing  before  it.  »»    1    1  •     t, 

*  This  explanation,  first  given  by  Verpoorten,  and  adopted  by  Merkel,  is  the 
most  satisfactory  of  those  offered.  We  can  hardly,  with  Lors,  consider  either 
Ilium  novum  or  Ilium  vetus  to  be  meant,  which  were  neither  on  the  sea-board. 

2  5ia^6r}Tov  ^v  rh  ZrjpivOov  avrpov,  Schol.  Ar.  Pax  277.  Masson  first 
saw  that  the  Zerynthus  mentioned  here  must  be  on  the  island  of  Samothrace, 
and  not  the  town  on  the  mainland  (Vit.  Ovid,  p.  I07,  ed.  Fischer),  and  it  is 
surprising  that  this,  which  is  undoubtedly  the  true  explanation,  has  not  been 
generally  adopted.  The  famous  Zerynthian  cave  of  Hecate,  Zr^pwOov  avrpov 
rrisKvvoaipa'^ov  Bias  (Lycophr.  77,  Suidas  a\\*  €i  T«y,  s.  v.  ^afxoepaKr},  Schol. 
Ar.  u.  s.,  see  Ellis  on  Ibis  379)  is  shown  by  Preller  (Griechische  Mythologie, 
i."  246)  to  have  been  on  the  north  coast  of  the  island  Samothrace,  and  it 
liiust  not  be  confoujided  with  Zerynthus,  on  the  Thracian  coast  near  Aenos, 
where  were  the  temples  of  the  Zerynthian  Apollo  and  Aphrodite. 

It  is  to  this  latter  Zerynthus  that  most  commentators  make  the  poet  sail  from 
Imbros,  but  this  would  have  entailed  a  most  unreasonably  circuitous  route: 
and  if  he  had  gone  out  of  his  way  to  land  on  the  mainland  before  going  to 
Samothrace,  he  would  surely  have  expressed  this  more  clearly.  Nor  is 
Merkel's  hypothesis  more  satisfactory,  that  he  did  not  actually  land  at 
Zerynthus,  but  merely  saw  it  in  the  distance,  as  one  might  see  England  when 
sailing  from  London  to  France,  through  the  Straits  of  Dover.  For  this  involves 
the  awkward  supposition  that  he  sailed  from  Imbros  along  near  the  Thracian 
coast ;  for  which  there  would  be  no  object  if  he  was  going  to  Samothrace, 
unless  he  had  intended  to  touch  at  some  place  on  the  mainland.  Besides,  the 
word  nacta  must  imply  that  he  actually  landed  at  Zerynthus. 


Thrace  in  another  vessel  (48),  landing  near  Tempyra  (21),  a  town  near 
the  sea,  and  a  military  station  on  the  Via  Egnatia  ^. 

Starting  from  Tempyra,  he  performed  the  rest  of  the  journey  by  land; 
just  as  conversely,  P.  iv.  5.  5,  his  letter  is  sent  from  Tomi  by  land  through 
Thrace,  and  thence  by  sea  to  Rome ;  cp.  T.  iv.  i.  51. 

Lines  24-42  contain  a  minute  description  of  the  ship's  voyage  from 
Samothrace  to  Tomi. 

She  passes  again  through  the  Hellespont  (24),  and  has  reached  Dar- 
dania (25),  Lampsacus  (26),  and  the  famous  narrow  strait  between 
Sestos  and  Abydos  (27,  28),  and  Cyzicus,  one  of  the  most  celebrated  and 
picturesque  cities  of  the  Propontis  (29),  and  Byzantium  (31),  which 
stood  on  the  Thracian  side,  at  the  entrance  to  the  Bosporus.  Thence 
through  the  Symplegades  (34)  she  is  to  sail  into  the  Euxine,  keeping 
along  its  west  coast,  past  Cape  Thynias  and  Apollonia  (35),  to  An- 
chialus,  a  small  town  {arta  moenia)  a  little  north  of  Apollonia,  of 
which  it  was  a  subject  state  (36) ;  thence  on  northwards  to  Mesembria 
(now  Missiori),  and  Odesus  (now  Varna),  and  Dionysupolis  (38),  a 
little  town  north-east  of  Odesus,  called  by  the  Greeks  Cruni  (K/>owoi  = 
Wells ;  now  Baltshik),  and  Bizone,  between  Tomi  and  Dionysupolis 
(39),  and  so  finally  to  Totni  (41). 

In  lines  45-48  he  offers  a  prayer  to  Castor  and  Pollux,  the  Twin 
Brethren,  who  were  the  special  guardians  of  travellers  by  sea,  to  protect 
both  himself  on  his  short  remaining  voyage  from  Samothrace  to  Thrace 
(48),  and  his  vessel  on  its  journey  to  Tomi  (47). 

A  careful  comparison  between  Catullus  iv.  and  this  elegy,  'which 
Ovid  has  written  with  Catullus  in  his  mind,  probably  in  his  hands,'  has 
been  instituted  by  Munro,  Criticisms,  etc.,  pp.  9-25.  The  poem  of 
Catullus  contains  a  description  of  a  voyage  taken  by  the  poet  in  his 
yacht,  conversely  from  Asia  through  the  Aegean  and  Adriatic  seas  to 
the  Po  and  his  home  on  the  Lake  Benacus. 


1.  T.  tutela,  see  on  4.  8.  Notice  that  the  tutela,  or  image  of  the  god 
under  whose  guardianship  the  vessel  sailed,— which  was  always  placed 
in  the  stern,— is  distinguished  here  (as  was  usually  the  case,  though  we 
do  find  in  Lucian,  Navig.  sen.  vota,  5.  p.  653,  Didot,  a  ship  whose 
«insigne'  and  'tutela'  are  both  Isis)  from  the  'insigne'  {irapdarjfiov),  or 
figure-head,  which,  as  with  us,  was  carved  or,  as  here,  painted  on  the 


1  Accord'ing  to  Strabo,  vii.  48,  Tempyra  was  a  dependent  town  belonging 
to  the  Samothracians,  which  would  explain  why  Ovid  sailed  thither  from 
Samothrace,  to  tuv  ^afioepaKUV  iroXixvtov  Tinirvpa  koI  dWo  x<ipdK<ufM,  ov 
vpoKUTai  ^  :^anoepaKTj  vrja'os  Kal  "I^j^pos  ov  iroKv  diTO$tv  ravTTjs, 


imm 


S6 


OVIDI  TRISTIA. 


NOTES.     I.  X.  1-23, 


87 


f' 


bows,  and  might  be  a  god  or  hero,  or  animal,  or  some  other  object,  as  here, 
a  helmet.  '  Cassis '  was  peculiarly  appropriate  to  Minerva,  who  (i.e.  Ath- 
ena) is  almost  always  represented  as  wearing  one.  In  Verg.  Aen.  v.  1 16 
the  names  and  *  insignia '  of  some  ships  are  enumerated,  pristis  (shark), 
chimaera,  centaurus,  scylla\  ibid.  x.  i66,tigris ;  206, Mincius,  a  river-god; 
209,  Triton,  a  sea-god.  In  Aen.  x.  171  Apollo  is  the  *tutela '  of  a  ship. 
See  Seneca,  Ep.  76,  'navis  bona  dicitur  non  quae  pretiosis  coloribuspicta 
est  .  .  .  nee  cuius  tutela  ebore  caelata^  Hence  we  must  not  explain 
tutela  here  as  either  *  a  thing  protected,'  i.  e.  under  the  protection  of 
(Amerpach,  followed  by  Paley  on  Prop.  v.  8.  3  and  L.  and  S.),  or  *  the 
person  which  protects '  (Scheller) ;  though  probably  the  latter  notion 
was  also  in  the  poet's  mind,  and  the  line  certainly  contains  a  prayer  for 
the  continued  protection  of  Minerva. 

flavae,  *  flavus,'  is  found  as  an  epithet  of  Minerva  in  Am.  i.  i.  7 ; 
F.  vi.  652  ;  thus,  though  it  is  true  that  the  epithet  is  more  frequently 
applied  to  Ceres,  there  is  no  need  of  Haupt's  most  ingenious  conjecture, 
ravae  =  ykavKomidos. 

Translate :  '  My  guardian  sign  is  yellow-haired  Minerva,  and  long  may 
it  remain  so,  and  my  ship  takes  her  name  from  a  pictured  casque.' 

I.  2.  et.  The  position  of  et  as  second  word  in  the  clause  is  very  fre- 
quent with  Ovid ;  instances  in  this  book  are  3.  96  ;  4.  10  ;  5.  11 ;  6.  31  ; 
7.  30.  Haupt  (Opuscula,  i.  125)  collects,  besides  passages  from  the 
Pontic  Epistles,  26  examples  from  the  Tristia.  After  more  than  one 
word  it  is  somewhat  rarely  found  ;  after  two  words,  v.  7.  40 ;  P.  iv.  9. 
131 ;  16.  33  (though  here  the  text  is  doubtful) ;  after  three  words,  v.  7. 
24  ;  after  four  words,  P.  i.  4.  20. 

II.  3-6.  Cp.  CatuU.  iv.  3,  *  Neque  uUius  natantis  impetum  trabis  Ne- 
quisse  praeter  ire,  sive  palmulis  Opus  foret  volare  sive  linteo.'  ApoU. 
R.  iii.  345,  7<Tov  5'  €(  dviixoio  eiu  koI  or  dvfpes  avrot  NcwAcficws  x«'/>«<^0'»»' 
emffiT(pxo}<Tiy  tp^TfioTs. 

1.  3.  ad  =  *at,'  on  the  occurrence  of. 

1.  6.  egressas  quamlibet  ante,  *  those  that  have  started  ever  so  long 
before  her.'    See  supr.  9.  24  n. 

1.  7.  *She  smites  the  billows  or  the  far  spaces  of  the  noiseless  sea  with 
equal  deftness,  and  is  not  overmastered  and  waterlogged  by  the  relent- 
less waters.'  The  ship  being  provided  with  oars  as  well  as  sails,  could 
pursue  her  course  in  a  calm  just  as  well  as  in  windy  weather  ;  and  was 
so  tightly  built  that  there  was  no  fear  of  her  being  water-logged ;  thus 
Catullus  iv.  17  speaks  of  his  yacht  as  having  both  'imbuisse  palmulas 
in  aequore,'  and  '  tot  per  impotentia  freta  Erum  tulisse.'  The  colloca- 
tion  pariter  .  .  .  atque  {ac)  is  found  in  Cic.  Paradox,  vi.  46 ;  Sail.  lug. 
113,  and  often  in  the  comic  poets :  see  Holtze,  ii.  336. 


There  is  a  strong  Vergilian  flavour  about  the  conplet  as  restored  in 
the  text :  with  ferit  (the  Homeric  voXir^v  oka  rvrrrov  fpfrftoTsy  Od.  ix. 
104)  cp.  Aen.  iii.  290,  '  Certatim  socii  feriunt  mare  et  aequora  ver- 
runt;'  with  silentia  longe  cp.  Aen.  ix.  190,  'silent  late  loca;*  with 
vida  cp.  Aen.  i.  122,  'iam  validam  Ilionei  navem  .  .  .  Vicit  hiempsj' 
with  madescit  cp.  Aen.  v.  697,  '  semiusta  madescunt  Robora.' 

1.  9.  Cenchreis.    See  3.  92  n. 

1.  12.  numine,  'protection;'  supr.  2.  8. 

1.  15.  mare  Helles,  "YXkr]^  -novro^.  Helle  was  the  daughter  of 
Atliamas,  son  of  Aeolus  (hence  Aeoliae)  and  Nephele,  and  the  sister  of 
Phrixus.  She  fled  with  her  brother  from  the  persecution  of  Ino,  her 
stepmother,  on  the  back  of  a  ram,  but  fell  off  (vectae  male  virginis,  2  7), 
and  was  drowned  in  the  strait  named  after  her.  The  story  is  told  m  F. 
iii.  849,  ff". ;  and  more  recently  by  Sir  George  Cox,  Tales  from  Greek 
Mythology,  p.  25,  ff.     For  the  position  of  the  preposition  see  on  9. 11.^ 

1.  16.  tenui  limite,  abl.  of  road  by  which ;  'along  a  narrow  track.' 
The  tenuis  limes  is  the  narrow  track  or  furrow  made  by  the  ship  as  it 
passes  through  the  sea ;  cp.  H.  xviii.  133,  '  lam  patet  attritus  solitarum 
limes  aquarum,  Non  aliter  multa  quam  via  pressa  rota'  (i.e.  the  track 
through  the  sea  pursued  each  day  by  Leander).  So  v.  6.  39,  '  Quam 
multae  gracili  terrena  sub  horrea  ferre  Limite  formicae  grana  reperta 
solent,"  where  gracili  limite  =  the  narrow  track  pursued  by  the  ants.  Cp. 
the  expressions  '  mare  sulcare,  arare/  and  note  the  contrast  between 
longutn  and  tenui. 

1.  21.  saltus  (salio),  as  we  say,  *  you  can  almost  jump  across  to  Tem- 
pyra.'  Merkel  compares  P.  i.  5.  75,  'Per  tantum  terrae,  tot  aquas  vix 
credere  possum  Indicium  studii  transiluisse  mei.' 

Join  Tempyra  contra  'from  this  isle  for  one  making  across  for 
Tempyra  the  passage  is  but  a  short  one.'  *  Contra '  is  an  adverb.  Cp. 
M.  iv.  79  (of  Pyramus  and  Thisbe  conversing  through  the  wall),  'Sub 
noctem  dixere  vale,  partique  dedere  Oscula  quisque  suae  non  pervenientia 

contra.*  j      •  u 

petenti  is  a  dat.  of  indirect  object,  and  closely  connected  with 

saltus  (sometimes  called  a  dat.  of  reference).  ^ 

1.  22.  hac  . .  .  tenus,  separated  by  tmesis,  as  in  M.  v.  642,  'thus  far, 
i.  e.  as  far  as  Samothrace,  infr.  45.  ^ 

1  23  Bistonios  =  Thracian,  frequently  so  used  in  Ovid,  see  P.  1. 
\  59;  ii.  9.  54;  iv.  V.  35;  Ibis  379.  Properly  the  Bistones  were  a 
Thracian  tribe  south  of  Mount  Rhodope,  near  Abdera.  Ovid  s  journey 
on  foot  through  Thrace  is  alluded  to  again  in  iv.  i.  49,  'lure  deas  igitur 
veneror  mala  nostra  levantes,  Sollicitae  comites  ex  Helicone  fugae;  Et 
partim  pelago/^r//w  vestigia  terraN^l  rate  dignatasz/^//^^.?  nostra  sequi: 


h 


f' 


88 


OVIDI  TRISTIA. 


1.  24.  relegit,  the  ship  had  just  come  from  the  Hellespont  (15),  and 
now  returns  thither. 

1.  25.  petit,  perf.  contracted  for  petiit^  as  in  F.  i.  109,  *  Flamma 
petit  altum,  piopior  locus  aera  cepit^  Sederunt  medio  terra  fretumque 
solo.'  M.  V.  460,  R.  306.  See  Lucian  Miiller,  De  re  Metr.  p.  399 ; 
Munro  and  Lachmann  on  Lucr.  iii.  1042  ;  Conington  on  Aen.  ix.  9. 

auctoris  nomen  habentem.  Dardania,  oftener  the  name  of  the 
whole  region  (hence  the  modem  name  Dardanelles),  more  commonly 
called  Dardanus,  or  Dardanum  (Diet.  Geogr.  i.  753  b),  was  a  town  in 
the  Troad  founded  by  (auctoris)  Dardanus,  the  mythical  ancestor  of  the 
Trojans.  Dardanus  went  with  his  followers  from  his  original  home  in 
Samothrace  to  Phrygia,  where  he  was  received  hospitably  by  the  king 
Teucer,  who  gave  him  his  daughter,  Bateia,  in  marriage  and  a  part  of  his 
territory.  Troy  itself  was  founded  by  Tros,  the  grandson  of  Dardanus  ; 
its  walls  were  built  by  Laomedon,the  grandson  of  Tros,  with  the  help  of 
Apollo  and  Poseidon.  As  the  genealogy  of  the  founders  of  the  Trojan 
race  (from  whom  the  Romans  through  Aeneas  professed  to  trace  their 
origin)  is  very  perplexing ;  it  is  worth  while  to  exhibit  it  in  a  genea- 
logical table,  based  on  the  account  of  ApoUodorus,  iii.  12.  3.  Cp. 
Horn.  II.  XX.  215-240. 

Zeus  =p:Electra  (one  of  the  Pleiades) 


Dardanus 


lasioa 


Aetioa 


Haemonia 


Ilus 


Erichthonius 

Tros  =FCallirrhoe 


Ilus 

I 
Laomedon 


ASSARACUS 


Ganymedes 


Capys  =7=  Themis  (daughter  of  Ilus, 

son  of  Tros). 


Anchises  =7:  Aphrodite 

Aeneas 

I 
lULUS  (Ascanius) 

(Mythical  ancestor  of  the 

gens  lulia). 


Tithonus 


Priam 

(also  called 

Podarkes) 


Lampon        Clytion 
(or  Clytius) 


Hicetaoa       Hesione 


NOTES.     I.  X.   24-34. 


89 


Paris 


Hector,  etc. 


1.  26.  Lampsacus  was  the  special  seat  of  the  worship  of  Priapus,  the 
god  of  gardens,  and  was  renowned  for  its  oysters  (Verg.  Geor.  iv.  111  ; 

CatuU.  frag.  ii.  Ellis). 

1.  27,  28.  The  strait  between  Sestos  and  Abydos  was  famous  for  the 
legend  of  Hero  and  Leander.     See  note  on  Trist.  iii.  10.  41. 

1.  29.  Cyzicus  is  graphically  described  as  clinging  to  the  shore  of  the 
Propontis,  for  the  city  was  situated  on  an  island,  and  only  connected 
with  the  mainland  by  two  bridges :  Strabo,  xii.  8.  ii,  cVrt  5^  vv<ros  kv 
T77  UponovridL  ^  Kv^iko^  avvanTOfiivr]  y^pvpais  bval  -nphs  r^v  rjnttpov. 
Apoll.  Rhod.  i.  936  calls  it  an  island,  but  speaks  also  of  an  isthmus  : 
iari  56  ris  ahtia  npoirovrlSos  tvhodi  vrjnos  Ivreiv  dn6  ^pvyirjs  .  .  .  (h 
fiXa  K€KXitiivv,  oaaov  r  kmixvpfrai  laOiihs  Xfpacp  kmnpTjvfis  Karaunhos. 
Hence  Prop.  iii.  (iv.)  22.  i,  *  Frigida  tam  multos  placuit  tibi  Cyzicus 
annos,  Tulle,  Propontiaca  qua  fluit  Isthmos  aqua'  (where  Ist/imos 
/?/«V  =  there  is  a  bridge  over  the  water). 

1  30  Haemoiiiae  =  Thessalian.  Haemonia  is  a  poetical  name  of 
Thessaiy,  frequent  in  Ovid,  so  called  from  Haemon,  the  mythical  father 
of  Thessalus,  from  whom  it  drew  its  name.  Cyzicus  was  founded  by 
Aeneus,   a  Thessalian,   or,  according  to   some  accounts,   by  his  son 

Cyzicus.  f 

I.  31.  'And  the  shores  of  Byzantium  that  command  the  entrance  ot 

the  Euxine.'  . 

1  32.  gemini  maris,  the  Propontis  and  the  Euxine. 

1*  33  evincat.  Though  the  ship  ought  to  have  passed  these  places  by 
this  time,  he  has  not  yet  had  tidings  that  it  has  done  so  :  its  voyage  just 
recorded  was  the  imagination  of  the  poet,  and  not  an  historical  fact. 
Hence  he  utters  a  prayer  that  it  may  have  had  a  safe  passage,  and  may 
pass  through  the  Symplegades,  which,  from  the  time  of  Homer  and  the 
Argonautic  legend  downwards,  were  proverbially  dangerous  to  manners. 
Hence  the  present  is  used.  £vincere  is  a  word  specially  applied  to  ships 
surmounting  dangers :  M.  xiv.  76, '  avidamque  Charybdim  Evicere  rates ; 
XV.  706, 'evicitque  fretum.'  r     .1.      u-    . 

fortibiis,  because  it  requires  a  strong  breeze  for  the  ship  to  pass 
briskly  (strenua)  through  the  Cyaneae.  ^      .   , 

1.  34.  instabiles  Cyaneas  (note  the  quadrisyllable  ending),the /fvavfat 
('dark,'  *  misty,'  *  distant,'  for  they  were  the  frontier  of  the  known  ancient 
worid),  vfjaoi  or  virpai,  were  two  small  rocky  islands,  mythically  supposed 
to  clash  together  {aviivKriaaiiv,  hence  called  Symplegades),  and  crush 
any  ship  that  tried  to  pass  through  the  narrow  passage  between  them 
(Symplegades  artas,  47).  After  this  had  been  safely  accomplished 
by  the  Argonauts,  they  were  fixed  open  for  ever,  as  had  been  decreed  by 
the  gods  should  happen,  as  soon  as  any  ship  got  safely  through ;  though 


■I 


90 


OVIDI  TRISTIA, 


NOTES.     I.   X.   38— Xi.   3. 


91 


f' 


Ovid,  here  speaking  as  a  poet,  prefers  to  regard  them  as  still  instabiles 
(6a fM  ^vviaaiv  (vovticu  dWrjKT^aiv,  Apoll.  Rhod.  ii.  321).  For  the 
legend  see  Grote,  Gk.  Hist.  pt.  i.  ch.  13,  and  W.  Morris,  Life  and 
Death  of  Jason,  book  6. 

1.  38.  arces  . . .  dictas  nomine,  Bacche,  tuo,  a  circumlocution  for 
Aiovvffov  voXts. 

1.  39.  Alcathous  was  a  son  of  Pelops,  and  son-in-law  of  Megareus, 
one  of  the  early  kings  of  Megara,  whom  he  succeeded.  He  beautified 
Megara,  and  restored  its  walls,  which  had  been  destroyed  by  the 
Cretans. 

The  town  referred  to  in  this  line  is  Bizone,  which  was  on  the  coast 
of  the  Euxine  between  Dionysupolis  and  Tomi.  It  was  a  colony  of 
Mesembria,  as  Mesembria  itself  was  of  Megara.  In  M.  viii.  8  Mesem- 
bria  itself  is  called  *  urbs  Alcathoi.' 

The  order  is  :  *  et  (praetereat  eos)  quos,  Alcathoi  a  moenibus  ortos, 
memorant  profugos  sedibus  his  constituisse  larem,' 

1.  41 .  Miletida  urbem.  Tomi,  near  the  modern  Kustendsche,  not 
far  from  the  mouth  of  the  Danube,  was  one  of  the  numerous  colonies  of 
Miletus  on  the  Euxine :  iii.  9. 3,  '  Hue  quoque  Mileto  missi  venere  coloni, 
Inque  Getis  Graias  constituere  domos.'  The  Milesians  first  opened  the 
Euxine  for  ordinary  navigation  and  commerce,  and  changed  its  name 
from  the  inhospitable  {d^uvos  or  d^tvos,  ii.  83  n.)  to  the  hospitable 
(cv^fivos  trovTos)  sea :  iv.  4.  55,  *  Frigida  me  cohibent  Euxini  litora 
ponti :  DJctus  ab  antiquis  Axenus  ille  fuit.*  According  to  Pliny  there 
were  no  less  than  80  Milesian  colonies  on  the  Euxine.  See  Thirl  wall,  Gk. 
Hist.  ii.  106 ;  Grote,  pt.  ii.  ch.  26  Jin. ;  Bunbury,  Hist.  Geogr,  i.  97  ff. 

1.  43.  contingere  is  generally  used  of  good  fortune,  and  then  is  the 
opposite  of  *  accidere,'  which  implies  misfortune  (Mayor  on  luv.  viii. 
28):  thus  Hor.  Epp.  i.  17.  36,  *non  cuivis  homini  contingit  adire 
Corinthum '  =  *  everyone  is  not  so  lucky  as  to  go  to  the  expensive  and 
luxurious  city  of  Corinth.'  The  word  is  sometimes  used  of  bad  fortune. 
See  Reid  on  Lael.  §  8. 

1.  44.  facere,  meaning  *to  suit,'  is  often  used  with  ad  (cp.  our  collo- 
quial idiom  *to  do  for') :  H.  vi.  128,  *  Medeae  faciunt  ad  scelus  omne 
manus '  (*  Medea's  hands  are  suited  to  every  kind  of  crime ')  ;  xiv.  56, 
*non  faciunt  molles  ad  fera  tela  manus  ;'  xv.  8  ;  xvi.  190 ;  Am.  i.  2. 16, 
*  frena  minus  sentit,  quisquis  ad  arma  facit.'  It  is  found  less  frequently 
in  the  same  sense  with  a  dat. :  H.  ii.  39, '  per  Venerem,  nimiumque  mihi 
facientia  tela.'  Occasionally  it  is  used  absolutely;  A.  A.  iii.  57  ;  T.  iii. 
8.  23,  *nec  caelum  nee  aquae  faciunt  nee  terra  nee  aurae  (i.e.  the  cli- 
mate here  in  Tomi  does  not  suit  me). 

1.  45.    Leda,  the  wife  of  Tyndareus,  was  the  mother  of  Castor  by 


her  husband,  and  of  Pollux  (and  Helen  of  Troy)  by  Zeus.  They  were 
called  hence  the  AioaKovpoi  (sons  of  Zeus),  and  became  a  constellation 
{Gemini,  the  Twins),  which  was  supposed,  if  seen  in  a  storm,  to  bring 
safety— cp.  the  modern  St.  Elmo's  fire,— hence  they  were  regarded  as 
the  tutelary  deities  of  sailors.  Hor.  Od.  i.  3.  2  invokes  them  to  protect 
Vergil  on  his  voyage  to  Greece. 

quos  haec  colit  insula.  The  worship  of  the  Dioscuri  in  Samo- 
thrace  appears  to  have  been  confused  with  the  worship  of  the  primitive 
Cabiri,  and  hence  to  have  assumed  large  proportions  :  Lobeck,  Aglao- 
phamus,  p.  1229  ff. 

1.  46.  duplici  viae,  (i)  the  voyage  of  the  ship  to  Tomi,  and  (2)  of  the 
second  ship,  which  is  to  convey  the  poet  to  Thrace  (Bistonias  aquas). 

1.  50.  ille  .  .  .  iUe  are  not  unfrequently  used  for  'the  former'— 
'  the  latter :'  H.  iii.  28,  *  ille  gradu  propior  sanguinis,  ille  comes.'  See 
Mayor  on  luv.  x.  91. 

El.  XI. 

This  poem  forms  the  Epilogue,  as  the  first  was  the  Prologue,  of  the 
book.  It  was  written  during  the  voyage  from  Samothrace  to  Thrace, 
when  Ovid  was  on  his  route  to  Tempyra  (31),  at  the  close  of  the  winter 
of  A.  D.  8  (33  and  39).  The  land  journey  through  Thrace  was  per- 
formed in  the  spring  of  A.  D.  9. 


Summary.— All  the  epistles  of  this  Book  have  been  written  during 
my  voyage,  either  on  the  Hadriatic  or  Aegean  seas  ;  for  the  power  of 
song  has  not  left  me  amid  the  perils  of  the  deep,  but  has  proved  my 
sole  consolation  (1-12).  I  have  encountered  many  storms,  and  now 
too  a  fearful  tempest  is  raging,  and  shipwreck  on  the  barbarous  shore 
of  Thrace  has  as  many  terrors  as  death  by  drowning  itself  ( 13-34)- 
Therefore  pardon,  reader,  the  blemishes  of  my  lines,  for  I  am  writing  no 
longer  at  ease  in  my  home,  but  amid  the  fury  of  the  storm,  which  I  pray 
may  soon  abate  (35-44)* 

1.  I.  littera  =  a  letter  of  the  alphabet.     The  pi.  liUerae  (a  collection 
of  such  letters)  =  a  letter,  in  the  sense  of  an  epistle. 
tibi  .  .  .  mihi,  dat.  of  agent. 
libello.     See  on  7.  33. 

toto  libello, '  in  the  whole  of  my  book,'  abl.  of  place  where. 
1.  3.  cum  tremerem.    See  on  3.  26. 

gelido  mense  decembri  as  mensis  december  forms  one  notion, 
and  is  equivalent  to  one  substantive,  the  second  epithet  (geUdo)  is  quite 


I 


9^ 


OVIDI   TRISTIA. 


h 


I 


regular:  so  ii.  491,  'fumoso  mense  decembri.'     See  Munro,  Lucr.  i. 
258  ;  Conington,  Aen.  vi.  603;  Kennedy,  L.  Gr.  p.  278. 

1.  4.  Hadria  appears  to  be  used  rather  loosely  for  the  Ionian  Sea : 
see  iv.  3  n. 

1.  5.  bimarem  Isthmon,  the  Isthmus  of  Corinth  '  on  its  two  gulfs/ 
the  Corinthian  and  Saronic. 

bimaris  =  5t0aAao'o-os,  is  an  epithet  constantly  applied  by  Ovid,  as 
by  Horace,  to  Corinth  and  the  Isthmus. 

cursu,  •  at  full  speed,*  adverbial  use  of  the  abl.  of  manner,  which 
in  such  cases  is  used,  contrary  to  ordinary  rule,  without  an  epithet,  being 
regarded  loosely  as  an  instrument. 

1.  6.  nostrae  fugae=-**  mihi  fugienti:'  see  5.  36  n. 

1.  7.  facerem.  Subj.  because  of  the  reported  reason  ;  the  Cyclades  said 
to  themselves,  We  are  astonished  that  he  is  writing  verse. 

1.  8.  Cyclades,  the  group  of  islands  so  called  because  they  lie  in  a 
circle  {kvkXos)  round  Delos. 

1.  9.  tantis  fluctibus,  abl.  of  instr.,  cecidisse  being  equivalent  to 

•  beaten  down.* 

1.  II.  'Call  my  devotion  to  poetry  folly  or  madness  as  you  will,  my 
heart  has  been  comforted  in  its  troubles  entirely  by  this  occupation.' 

For  insania  cp.  ii.  15,  *At  nunc — tanta  meo  comes  est  insania 
morbo — Saxa  malum  refero  rursus  ad  icta  pedem ; '  Cic.  de  Or.  ii.  §  194, 

*  saepe  enim  audivi  poetam  bonum  neminem  .  .  .  sine  inflammatione 
animorum  exsistere  posse  et  sine  quodam  adflatu  quasi  furoris.* 

1.  12.  ab.  This  otiose  use  of  ab, '  in  consequence  of,'  where  we  should 
have  expected  a  simple  instr.  abl.,  is  poetical,  and  especially  common  in 
Ovid:  see  ii.  28,  *fiat  ab  ingenio  mollior  ira  meo;'  462,'  docetque, 
Qua  nuptae  possint  fallere  ab  arte  viros ; '  iv.  5.  3,  •  cuius  ab  adloquiis 
anima  haec  moribunda  revixit;'  10.  16,  'curaque  parentis  Imus  ad 
insignes  urbis  ab  arte  viros;'  Ibis  145,  'consumptus  ab  annis'  (see 
Ellis). 

1. 13.  The  constellation  of  the  Kids  rises  Sept.  25th-29th,  and  brings 
stormy  weather  (nimbosis  =  'p]uvialibus  haedis,'  Verg.  Aen.  ix.  668). 
Diet.  A.  163  b. 

1.  14.  Sterope  was  one  of  the  seven  Pleiades  (Lat.  Vergiliae),  the 
daughters  of  Atlas ;  after  their  death  they  became  a  constellation  whose 
rising  and  setting,  in  the  first  half  of  May  and  beginning  of  November, 
were  the  signals  in  early  times  for  the  Greek  mariner  to  begin  and  dis- 
continue his  voyages.     Diet.  A.  1 50  a. 

1.  15.  custos  Atlantidos  ursae.  See  on  3.  47  and  4.  i.  Callisto 
according  to  one  legend  was  the  daughter  of  Nycteus,  a  great-grandson 
of  Atlas,  and  is  hence  called  a  descendant  of  Atlas.     (My  reasons  for 


NOTES.     I.  xi.  4-20. 


93 


restoring  Atlantidos,  the  reading  of  L,  in  place  of  Erymanthtdos  the 
reading  of  most  MSS,  are  given  in  the  Classical  Review,  11.  p.  180.) 

1.  16.  The  seven  Hyades  were  fabled  to  have  been  sisters  of  the 
Pleiades  The  name  is  said  to  be  derived  aith  rov  veiv  (cp.  F.  v.  166, 
'  navita  quas  Hyadas  Grains  ab  imbre  vocat '),  because  the  time  of  their 
morning  setting  is  at  the  most  rainy  and  stormy  season  of  the  year,  the 
end  of  October  and  beginning  of  November  (hence  here  seris  aqtuis, 
because  their  setting  is  late  in  the  year).  Diet.  A.  150  a,  163  a.  The 
etymology  which  connects  them  with  h, '  a  pig,'  because  of  their  resem- 
blance to  a  litter  of  pigs,  is  borne  out  by  their  Latin  name  Suculae,  and 
possibly  the  Pleiades  also  may  mean  not  •  the  sailing  stars,'  1.  e.  stars  by 
which  mariners  sail  (irX€.»,  but « the  pigeons'  (ircXctdScs).  See  Hallam 
on  F.  1.  c. ;  Merry  on  Od.  v.  272. 

liauserat  =  'exhauserat,'  as  in  Verg.  Geor.iii.  105,  *  exsultantiaque 

haurit  Corda  pavor  pulsans.' 

seris  aquis,  abl.  of  part  concerned. 
Translate  :    *  Or  the  south  wind  had  drained  the  Hyades  of  their 
latter  rains.'     [I  should  take  it  'the  south  wind  had  swallowed  (i.e. 
brought  about  the  setting  of)  the  Hyades  in  the  waters  of  autumn. 

'  auster  (Columella,  xi.  2,  notices  that  the  total  setting  of  the  Suculae 
on  Nov.  30  is  accompanied  by  *  Favonius  aut  auster')  and  hauserat  is 
an  intentional  play  upon  the  words,  for  the  Romans  derived  auster 
(which  really  is  connected  with  ai<v,  '^he  hot,  drying  wind  ),  ab 
hauriendis  aquis'  (Isid.  Orig.  xiii.  11.6,  Carmen  de  ventis  m  Baehrens, 
Poet  Min  v.  p.  384,  quoted  by  Heinsius,  *  austrum  nte  vocant,  quia 
nubila  flatibus  haurit') ;  an  etymology  which  is  more  intelligible  if  we 
remember  that  until  the  time  of  the  empire  the  sound  k  was  m  many 
words  very  weak  :  Quintil.  i.  5-  20,  '  parcissime  ea  veteres  usi  etiam  in 
vocalibus.  cum  "  aedos  "  "  ircos  "-que  dicebant.' 

To  Stat.  Theb.  iv.  120,  where  a  river,  and,  ix.  460,  where  a  storm  are 
said  P/eiadas  haurire  in  the  same  sense  as  here,  passages  quoted  by  Hein- 
sius, add  ix.  454,  where  the  river  Ismenos  '  umentes  nebulas  exhaurit,  et 

aera  siccat.'  .  ^  ,1.    ^.u      j    •« 

1  18    ducebam.     The  metaphor  is  from  drawing  out  the  threads  m 

spinning  (see  note  on  deducta,  i.  39)-.  cp.  iii-  H-  32,  *  carmen  mirabitur 

ullum  Ducere  me  tristi  sustinuisse  manu  ;'  v.  12.  63,  '  cupio  non  uUos 

ducere  versus;'  P.  i.  5-  7,  *  niihi  si  quis  erat  ducendi  carmims  usus; 

Hor.  S.  i.  10.  44. 

qualiacumque,  supr.  7.  12. 
1  19.  Cp.  supr.  4.  9.     aquilone,  instr.  abl. 
1.  20.  concava  refers  to  the  overarching  of  the  waves  m  a  rough 


94 


OVIDI  TRISTIA, 


sea :   Horn.  Od.  xi.  244,  irop<pvp(ov  8*  apa  kvjm  wepiffraBrj  ovptX  Iffov, 
KvpruOfV. 

1.  23.  adspexi,  see  2.  23  n.  in  Appendix. 

mortis  imago,  '  the  sight  of  death,'  is  from  Verg.  Aen.  ii.  369, 
and  is  found  again  in  Am.  ii,  9.  41,  'stulte,  quid  est  somnus,  gelidae 
nisi  mortis  imago,'  where  the  meaning  is  '  the  semblance  of  death.'  In 
M.  X.  726,  *repetitaque  mortis  imago  Annua  plangoris  peraget  Simula- 
mina  nostri,'  it  means  *  a  representation  of  the  death  of  Adonis.* 

1.  24.  *  With  what  misgiving  of  heart  I  dread,  yet  pray  for  all  my  dread.' 

1.  25.  attigero,  conditional  use  of  indie,  in  protasis  of  conditional 
sentence,  to  which  terrebor  is  the  apodosis,  R.  651. 

1.  26  is  explained  by  iv.  4.  59,  '  Sunt  circa  gentes,  quae  praedam 
sanguine  quaerunt ;  Nee  minus  infida  terra  timetur  aqua.* 

1.  27.  insidiis,  instr.  abl.  laboro,  *  I  am  troubled,*  has,  as  usual,  the 
construction  of  a  passive  verb. 

1.  29.  meo  sanguine,  instrum.  abl.,  'booty  by  means  of,  through  my 
blood.' 

1. 30.  titnlum  nostrae  mortis  = '  titulum  ex mea  morte ;  *  see  on  t.  53. 
nostrae  mortis  is  gen.  of  definition. 

1.  31.  laeva  is  nom.,  'the  district  on  the  left,*  viz.  the  coast  of  Thrace, 
which  lay  on  the  left  as  he  sailed  from  Samothrace  to  Tempyra.  Cp. 
P.  i.  3.  57,  *hostis  adest  dextra  laevaque  a  parte  timendus.* 

1.  34.  pectora,  '  my  heart ; '  usually  of  the  emotional  rather  than 
intellectual  nature  (Wilkins  <ti  Hor.  Epp.  i.  4.  6). 

1.  37.  hortis.  Ovid  had  a  pleasure-garden,  at  the  junction  of  the 
Clodian  and  Flaminian  roads,  about  three  miles  from  Rome :  P.  i.  8. 
41,  *  Non  mens  amissos  animus  desiderat  agros,  Ruraque  Paeligno  con- 
spicienda  solo.  Nee  quos  piniferis  positos  in  collibus  hortos  Spectat 
Flaminiae  Clodia  iuncta  viae,  Quos  ego  nescio  cui  colui ;  quibus  ipse 
solebam  Ad  sata  fontanas,  nee  pudet,  addere  aquas :  Sunt  ubi,  si  vivunt, 
nostra  quoque  consita  quaedam,  Sed  non  et  nostra  poma  legenda  manu.' 
From  T.  iv.  8.  27  we  learn  that  it  was  his  custom  alternately  to  enjoy 
the  life  and  society  of  the  city,  and  to  retire  ('  vacuos  secedere  in  hortos ') 
to  his  pleasure-garden  for  study  and  composition  ;  to  which  purpose,  as 
well  as  to  the  giving  of  entertainments,  gardens  were  constantly  put  by 
the  Romans  (so  Gibbon  finished  writing  his  history  in  a  summer-house 
in  his  garden  :  Memoirs,  ed.  Smith,  i.  1 1 7).  Among  wealthy  literary 
Romans,  besides  Ovid,  who  owned  ^ortt,  were  Sallust,  Lucan,  and 
Seneca.    On  the  whole  subject  see  Mayor,  luv.  i.  75. 

1.  38.  lectule,  a  sofa  used  for  reading  and  writing,  the  tablet  being 
placed  against  the  knee,  which  was  raised  for  the  purpose  (Rich.  375,  a.). 

1.  39.  brumali  luce,  abl.  of  time  when. 


NOTES.     I.  XI.  23-43. 


95 


1.41.  improba,  'relentless,'  persisting  in  its  persecution  of  me. 
*  Improbus  *  frequently  denotes  the  absence  of  moderation  and  self- 
control,  *  and  as  such  is  applied  to  the  wanton  malice  of  a  persecuting 
power'  (Coningtonon  Geor.  i.  119). 

ausim.  Roby,  291 ;  L.  Gr.  619,  620,  explains  this  as  an  archaic 
form  of  the  future  subjunctive,  formed  from  the  present  stem,  like  the 
Greek  fut.  in  -<rcu.  (Others  regard  it  as  a  subj.  formed  from  the  perfect 
stem  :  see  Wordsworth,  Fragments  and  Specimens  of  Early  Latin,  Introd. 
p.  149).  Ausim  is  found  also  in  Am.  ii.  4.  i ;  16.  21  ;  Rem.  700  ;  M. 
vi.  561,  viii.  77  ;  P.  iv.  11.  11;  12.  15;  16.41:  fl«j// in  A.  A.  iL  601 ; 
M.  vi.  466. 

1.  42.  rigidas  incutiente  minas,  •  while  it  is  hurling  at  me  its  fierce 
threats : '  Am.  i.  7,  45,  *  Nonne  satis  fuerat  timidae  inclamasse  puellae. 
Nee  nimium  rigidas  intonuisse  minas  ?  ' 

1.  43.  '  Let  the  storm  have  its  will  of  the  man.  I  yield ;  but  prythee 
let  me  put  a  limit  to  my  poems,  and  the  storm  a  limit  to  its  violence  at 
the  same  time.* 

quaeso  is  parenthetical. 


APPENDIX. 


I.  5  ff.  This  is  one  of  the  loci  classici  for  ancient  books.  These  were 
usually  written  on  paper  {caj-ta)  made  from  layers  of  the  Egyptian 
papyrus,  less  commonly  on  parchment  {7nembrand\.  The  writing  was 
on  only  one  side ;  the  blank  back  of  the  page  was  stained  with  cedrus 
{cedro  carta  nofetur),  the  resinous  exudation  of  the  juniper  tree,  which 
produced  a  yellow  colour  (iii.  i.  13,  'quod  neque  sum  cedro  flavus  nee 
pumice  le^^s').  The  scroll  when  finished  was  rolled  round  a  staff,  and 
thus  called  volumen.  It  was  usual  to  write  only  one  book  of  a  work  on 
one  such  scroll,  thus,  infr.  117,  Ovid  speaks  of  the  fifteen  books  of  the 
Metamorphoses  as  mutatae,  ter  quinque  volumitia,  formae.  The  ends  of 
the  staff  (which  did  not  protrude  beyond  the  ends  of  the  scroll)  were 
painted,  and  from  their  resemblance  to  the  human  navel  were  called 
umbilici 'y  but  where  greater  finish  was  desired,  bosses  or  knobs  were 
attached  to  the  ends  of  the  umbilici,  which  were  called  cornua.  The 
fronteSy  or  edges  of  the  two  extremities  of  the  roll  around  the  cornua, 
were  cut  and  smoothed  with  pumice  stone  (J>umex).  The  lettering-piece 
containing  the  title  of  the  book  {titulus  or  index)  ^  was  written  on  a 
narrow  strip  of  parchment  of  a  deep  red  colour  {minium^,  and  fastened 
to  the  centre  of  the  scroll,  so  as  to  hang  down  outside  (Rich.  s.  v.  index)  \ 
though  sometimes  it  was  affixed  to  one  of  the  umbilici,  so  as  to  hang 
from  one  ofthe/rontes  (infr.  109,  Guhl  and  Koner,  p.  531).  Occasionally 
it  was  tied  to  the  membrana,  the  exterior  parchment  case  into  which  the 
roll  was  put  to  protect  it  from  injury,  and  which  was  stained  with  a 
purple  {vaccinium,  1.  5),  or  sometimes  yellow  colour  {lutum).  Thus 
Martial,  iii.  2.  10,  says  to  his  book  '  et  te  purpura  delicata  velet;'  cp. 
Lucian,  De  Merced,  cond.  41,  o\ioioi  dai  rots  KaWiarois  tovtois  0i&\iois,  Siv 
XpvaoT  fxiv  ol  bfxipaKoi  {umbilici),  -nopcpvpd  5*  IktoctOcv  j)  ^i(p04pa.  {mem- 
brana). The  exact  difference  between  the  capsa  and  scrinium  has  not 
been  ascertained;  they  were  both  circular  {scrinia  curva,  106  infr.)  boxes 
for  holdinfj  books,  papers,  etc. 

H 


■ 


qS  OVIDI  TRISTIA, 

I.  87.  ergo.  L.  Muller,  De  re  Metrica,  p.  337.  sbows  that  in  the  Au- 
gustan  age  there  was  an  increasing  tendency  to  shorten  long  final  0. 
Thus  Verg.  has  Foilio,  nuntio,  audeo  ;  Hor.  in  the  Odes,  Pollio,  in  the 
Satires  and  Epistles,  eo,  rogo,  veto,  dixero,  obsecro ;  quomodo,  nuntio, 
Pollio.scio;  Tibullus,  desino  ;  Propertius,  caedito,  findo ;  Ovid  always 
Sulmo,  Naso,  and  frequently  amo,  cano,  nego,  peto,  rogo,  leo,  confero, 
desino,  odero.  Curio,  Gallio,  Scipio,  csto,  credo,  tollo,  rependo,  nemo,  ergo. 
To  this  list  add  the  parenthetic  puto  (e.g.  P.  i.  3-  47).  and  Semo  (F.  vi. 
214).  It  is  natural  that  in  Ovid,  the  last  of  the  Augustan  poets,  who 
forms  a  connecting  link  with  the  next  generation,  we  should  find  an 
increase  of  such   metrical  latitude.     See  Munro  in  Kennedy,  L.  Gr. 

p.  518  n.  .  , 

II.  33.  Notice  the  difference  in  meaning  between,  {i)quocumque  adsptcto 
here,  (2)  adspicias,  conjectured  by  Heinsius  here,  and  probably  right  in 
P.  i.'3.  55,  and  (3)  adspiceres,  infr.  3.  21 :  (i)  is  used  when,  as  here,  the 
writer  is  describing  himself,  and  vividly  putting  his  condition  before  our 
eyes ;  (2)  if  he  turns  from  himself  to  someone  else  (indefinite,  and  there- 
fore subj.),  and  vividly  pictures  that  person  as  present ;  (3)  if  he  imagines 
some  person  not  present,  but  who,  if  he  had  been,  would  have  seen,  etc. 
Again,  (4)  in  n.  23,  the  perf.  adspexi  emphasises  the  certainty  of  the 
presence  of  death  on  all  sides,  wherever  he  has  already  looked. 

II.  53  ff-  The  contrast  is  between  a  violent  death  by  drowning,  which 
would  be  death  *  praeter  naturam  praeterque  fatum '  (Cic.  Phil.  i.  §  10), 
and  a  soldier's  death  in  battle,  which  would  still  h^fato,  as  is  seen  from 
what  Juppiter  says  about  the  slaying  of  Pallas  by  Turnus,  Aen.  x.  467- 
472  ;  see  especially  471,  'etiara  sua  Tumum  Fata  vocant'  (though  Turnus 
himself  was  killed),  ibid.  438, '  mox  illos  sua  fata  manent  maiore  sub 
hoste.'    The  conjecture  of  W^m'SAVi's,  fatffve  ferrove,  adopted  by  almost  all 
editors,  distinguishes  two  possible  kinds  of  death  on  land,  a  natural  and 
a  violent.     But  this  is  unnecessary,  and  it  is  better  to  consider  the  passage 
as  relating  to  a  soldier's  death  on  land  only,  for  a  man  who  falls  in  battle 
falls  '  et  fato  suo  et  ferro '  (Lors).     Also  there  is  more  point  in  his  pre- 
ferring any  death  on  land,  however  terrible,  which  still  carries  with  it 
some  faint  hope  of  burial,  to  drowning  (cp.  F.  iii.  598,  quoted  on  55), 
than  in  his  contrasting  with  the  latter,  death  by  land  either  ordinary  or 
violent.    Special  importance  has  in  all  ages  been  attached  to  burial; 
and  death  by  drowning  was  regarded  with  peculiar  horror,  on  account 
of  the  idea  prevalent  among  both  Greeks  and  Romans  that  such  n 


APPENDIX.     I.  i.  87— ii.  72. 


99 


death  was  the  punishment  for  guilt.    Thus  Dido  says  to  Aeneas,  H. 
vii.  57 : 

*Nec  violasse  fidem  temptantibus  aequora  prodest : 
perfidiae  poenas  exigit  ille  locus.' 

(See  Palmer's  n.) 

II.  73.  Three  things  constituted  Roman  citizenship,  freedom  {Jiiberias), 
civic  rights  {civitas),  and  membership  in  a  family  {familid),  Dig.  iv.  5. 
II.  The  possession  of  these  formed  the  citizen's  status  or  legal  person- 
ality, which  was  called  *  caput.'  The  status  could  be  impaired  (called 
deminutio  capitis)  in  three  ways:  either  (i)  it  could  be  entirely  lost 
♦  cum  aliquis  civitatem  et  libertatem  amittit '),  which  was  the  case  with 
persons  condemned  to  work  in  the  mines,  or  to  contend  with  wild  beasts 
in  the  arena ;  this  was  called  *  maxima  deminutio : '  or  (2)  a  change  of 
status  could  be  undergone,  involving  loss  of  *civitas'  though  not  of 
•libertas,'  in  which  case  a  man  became  *  peregrinus,'  as  happened  to 
persons  outlawed  (*aqua  et  igni  interdicti')  or  banished  as  state 
prisoners  to  an  island  (^'deportati  in  insulam');  this  was  called 
'minor'  or  'media  deminutio,*  and  constituted  civic  death,  and  so 
the  'caput '  might  be  said  '  perire  :'  or  (3)  the  *fam.ilia '  only  might  be 
affected,  *  civitas '  and  'libertas'  being  retained,  as  occurred  in  adoptions 
(Gains,  i.  162);  this  was  called  'minima  deminutio,'  and,  unlike  the 
other  two,  was  not  a  state  of  punishment.  In  the  present  passage  Ovid 
is  speaking  of  himself  in  general  terms  as  exsul;  he  has  been  banished  to 
a  particular  place  of  residence— Tomi.  As  a  fact  his  banishment  was 
the  mildest  possible  ('  relegatio  '),  which  was  an  exile  within  prescribed 
limits,  not  in  any  way  affecting  the  status,  involving  no  *  deminutio 
capitis,'  but  leaving  the  *  patria  potestas '  and  all  other  rights  unimpaired 
(Dig.  xlviii.  22.  7  ;  Ovid,  T.  v.  2.  55,  '  vitamque  dedisti.  Nee  mihi  ius 
civis,  nee  mihi  nomen  abest ;'  ib.  4.  21,  '  Quod  opes  teneat  patrias,  quod 
nomina  civis,  Denique  quod  vivat,  munus  habere  dei;'  ib.  11.  9  ff. ;  ii. 
137 ;  iv.  4. 46 ;  Ibis  24).  But  in  his  bitterness  he  intentionally,  here  and 
in  4. 28,  confounds  it  with  the  severer  form  of  exile  *  deportatio  in  insulam,* 
which  entailed  a  'minor  capitis  deminutio  ;'  though  when  speaking  more 
exactly  (v.  11'  21,  'ipse  relegati,  non  exsulis  utitur  in  me  Nomine')  he 
denies  the  name  of  exile,  i.  e.  exile  involving  '  deminutio  capitis.'  (See 
Ortolan,  Inst.  Just.  ii.  149,  ff.  ;  Demangeat,  Droit  Romain,  i.  310,  and 
for  the  places  of  banishment  under  the  empire  Mayor  on  luv.  i.  73.) 

H  2 


lOO 


OVIDI   TRISTIA. 


II.  102.  If  we  compare  ii.  243,  244, '  Non  tamen  idchrco  legum  con- 
traria  iussis  Sunt  ea  (his  *Ars')  Romanas  erudiuntque  nurus,'  where  he 
defends  his  Ars  Amatoria  to  Augustus  as  not  being  really  hostile  to  the 
Emperor's  legislation  for  the  promotion  of  marriage  (for  the  legislation 
on  the  subject  see  Furneaux,  Annals  of  Tacitus,  i-vi.  p.  439  ff. ;  Meri- 
vale,  iv.  87  ff.),  it  appears  probable  that  here  he  is  suggesting  the  same 
excuse  on  behalf  of  himself —the  excuse  that  he  had  always  been  not 
only  a  private  partizan  of  Augustus  (loi),  but  a  supporter  of  his  public 
policy  (/«3//Va  opposed  to  domus)  in  that  respect.  (Graeber,  i.  vii.  sup- 
poses ii.  175,  *  dimidioque  tui  praesens  et  respicis  urbem,'  to  allude  to 
the  passing  of  the  Lex  Papia  Poppaea  de  maritandis  ordinibus.)  This 
artful  suggestion  becomes  additionally  pointed  if  we  consider  him  to  be 
covertly  contrasting  his  own  behaviour  with  that  of  others,  who,  like 
Horace  and  Propertius,  both  of  whom  were  unmarried,  were  not  favour- 
ably affected  towards  these  laws  (see  Merivale,  u.  s.  88,  note  2,  and  cp. 
especially  Prop.  ii.  7.  i  ff. ;  Hor.  Od.  iv.  5.  21 ;  Carm.  Saec.  17  ff.)-  And 
much  the  same  may  be  said  of  TibuUus,  whose  poetry  (see  i.  6)  and  life 
were  equally  at  variance  with  such  legislation.  The  attitude  of  the 
whole  equestrian  order  was  one  of  extreme  discontent :  Dio,  Ivi.  i,  init. 
iitiiZri  re  ol  iTrrreis  iroAXf?  iv  avTois  airovd^  rov  voiiov^  rbv  itepl  ruv  /x^ 
yafJiovvTwv  ixrjTe  t^kvovvtuv,  KaraXvd^vai  ri^iovVj  ^dpoiaiv  (sc.  Augustus)  « 
7^v  dyopav  x^wpts  f^^^  '''ovs  dyvvaiovs  a<pwVt  X^P^^  ^^  "'"^^^  yeya^rjKdras  ^ 
leax  rtKva  exovras,  koi  iSuv  itoXv  tovtovs  fKfivwv  (Kdrrovs,  ^\yrjai  tc 
/cat  Si€\i^aTo  avTois  roidSf  (then  follows  the  speech). 

V.  28.  indelibatas,  prop.  =  *untasted,'  is  a  word  introduced  into  use 
apparently  by  Ovid.  A  list  of  such  adjectives  compounded  of  in,  with 
which  Ovid  enriched  the  language,  illustrates  admirably  the  inventive 
facility  of  the  poet's  genius  (iv.  10.  25,  'sponte  sua  carmen  numeros 
veniebat  ad  aptos')  :  of  the  following  such  adjectives,  first  used  by  Ovid, 
the  majority  are  found  also  in  subsequent  writers  :  illabefactus  (P.  iv. 
8.  10;  12.  30);  illectus  (A.  A.  i.  469);  illimis  (M.  iii.  407);  imman- 
suetus  (M.  iv.  237  ;  xiv.  249;  xv.  85);  imperceptus  (M.  ix.  711);  im- 
percussus  (Am.  iii.  i.  52);  imperfossus  (M.  xii.  491);  imperiuratus  (lb. 
78) ;  imperturbatus  (lb.  560) ;  inambitiosus  (M.  xi.  765) ;  inassuetus 
(F.  iv.  450)  ;  inattenuatus  (M.  viii.  835)  ;  incommendatus  (M.  xi.  434) ; 
inconsumptus  (M.  iv.  17;  vii.  592;  P.  i.  2.  41);  inconsolabilis  (M.  v. 
426)  ;  incruentatus  (M.  xii.  492)  ;  inculpatus  (M.  ix.673)  ;  incustoditus 
(M.  ii.  684;  iii.  15;  T.  i.  6.  10)  ;  indeclinatus  (T.  iv.  5.  24;  P.  iv.  10. 


APPENDIX,     I.  ii.  102 — viii.  45. 


lOI 


83)  ;  indefletus  (M.  vii.  611)  ;  indeiectus  (M.  i.  289)  ;  indelebilis  (M. 
XV.  876 ;  P.  ii.  8.  25) ;  indeploratus  (T.  iii.  3.  46) ;  indesertus  (Am. 
ii.  9.  53)  ;  indestrictus  (M.  xii.  92)  ;  indetonsus  (M.  iv.  13) ;  indevitatus 
(M.  ii.  605);  ineditus  (P.  iv.  16.  39);  inevitabilis  (M.  iii.  301); 
inexperrectus  (M.  xii.  317) ;  inextinctus  (F.  i.  413  ;  vi.  297  ;  T.  v.  14. 
36;  lb.  426);  infrons  (P.  iv.  10.  31);  innabilis  (M.  i.  16);  innubus 
(M.  X.  92,  567  ;  xiv.  142)  ;  inobrutus  (M.  vii.  356) ;  inobservatus  (M.ii. 
544  ;  iv.  341 ;  F.  iii.  in);  inoffensus  (T.  i.  9.  i) ;  insolidus  (M.  xv.  203) ; 
intrepidus  (M.  ix.  107 ;  xiii.  477) ;  intumulatus  (H.  ii.  136) ;  irreligatus 
(A.  A.  i.  530);  irreprehensus  (M.  iii.  340;  T.  v.  14.  22);  irrequietus 
(M.  i.  578;  xiii.  729);  irresolutus  (P.  i.  2.  22). 

V.  49.  The  use  of  the  ablative  case  in  comparisons  is  to  be  referred 
to  the  same  general  head  as  the  ablative  of  place  from  which,  and  the 
real  meaning  is  '  starting  from '  (Holtze,  Synt.  Prise.  Lat.  i.  116  ;  Roby, 
L.  Gr.  1266).  Kennedy  (L.  Gr.  p.  404)  refers  it  to  the  idea  of  origin, 
which  is  the  same  notion.  If  one  thing  is  compared  with  another,  the 
speaker  starts  from  the  one  in  order  to  make  the  comparison  :  thus 
credibili  maiora  =  *  si  a  credibili  proficiscor,  si  a  credibili  proficiscens 
rem  specto,  tulimus  maiora.' 

This  ablative  is  explained  with  less  probability  by  Kiihner,  L.  Gr. 
ed.  1878,  ii.  299,  and  Draeger,  Historische  Syntax,  i.  565,  as  an  instru- 
mental ablative.  Thus,  says  Kiihner,  '  Lingua  Graeca  locupletior  est 
Latina,'  would  mean  that  the  quality  of  richness  in  Greek  is  only  called 
out  by  means  of  comparing  it  with  Latin ;  it  is  a  latent  quality,  and 
Latin  is  the  instrument  of  its  being  actualised.  But  this  conception  is 
far-fetched. 

VIII.  45.  The  objections  to  the  reading  in  the  text  are  (i)  that  the 
ellipsis  with  quam  nunc  is  rather  awkward,  (2)  that  nunc  has  little 
manuscript  support.  The  latter  objection  has  little  weight;  for  non 
and  nunc,  from  the  similarity  of  their  contractions,  are  words  particu- 
larly liable  to  confusion  in  MSS.  With  regard  to  (i)  it  is  scarcely 
credible  that  Ovid  can  have  written  what  is  found  in  most  of  the  MSS, 
'aut  mala  nostra  minus  quam  non  aliena  putares,'  which  Merkel  ex- 
plains as  =  *  aut  mala  nostra  non  aliena  putares,'  the  artificial  peri- 
phrasis, 'minus  quam  non  aliena'  being,  in  Merkel's  opinion,  due 
partly  to  the  poet's  love  of  such  artificialities,  and  partly  to  a  desire  to 
indicate  what  he  would  have  wished  as  modestly  as  possible ;  he  would 
have  liked  in  his  friend  an  attitude  of  regard  a  little  more  distinctly 

H  3 


102 


OVIDI   TRISTIA. 


marked  than  ('  less  than ')  '  non  aliena.*  But  the  passages  quoted  by 
Merkel  in  support  of  '  minus  quam  non '  (M.  viii.  600 ;  ep.  Sen.  20  and 
49;  Suet.  Tib.  26;  M.  Sen.  Controv.  i.  3),  are  none  of  them  so 
harsh  as  this ;  and  the  intended  meaning  is  too  forced  and  obscure  to 
be  probable  in  Ovid. 

IX.  7.  This  passage  has  been  perplexed  with  needless  difficulties  ;  of 
which  we  may  pass  by  without  comment  the  objection  of  Harles 
that  birds,  as  a  fact,  haunt  the  'ivy-mantled  tower.'  The  Romans 
seem  to  have  believed  that  doves  had  a  special  fondness  for  white,  as 
well  as  cleanliness  :  Columella,  R.  R.  viii.  8,  •  totus  autem  locus  et  ipsae 
columbarum  celiac  poliri  debent  albo  iectorio,  quoniam  eo  colore praecipue 
dehctatur  hoc  genus  avium  .  .  .  locus  autem  subinde  converri  et 
emundari  debet,  nam  quanto  est  cultior,  tanto  laetior  avis  conspicitur, 
eaque  tam  fastidiosa  est,  ut  saepe  sedes  suas  perosa,  si  detur  avolandi 
potestas,  relinquat  :*  and  Palladius,  R.  R.  i.  24,  says  that  the  'colum- 
barium '  must  be  *  levigatis  ac  dealbatis  parietibus.* 

By  turris  is  meant  neither  a  *  dove-cot,'  as  it  is  usually  explained,  for 
which  there  is  little  authority,  nor  merely  a  lofty  building  or  house 
(Lors),  a  meaning  which  the  word  certainly  has  occasionally,  as  in  Hor. 
Od.  ii.  10.  II ;  Tibull.  i.  7.  9 ;  but  the  turrets  or  pinnacles  of  the  villas  of 
wealthy  men,  which  were  appropriated  to  the  occupation  of  doves,  as  is 
seen  from  Varro,  R.  R.  iii.  7,  *  unum  [genus]  agreste,  ut  alii  dicunt  saxa- 
tile,  quod  habetur  in  turribus  ac  columinibus  villae,  a  quo  appellatae 
columbae,  quae  propter  timorem  naturalem  summa  loca  in  tectis  captant : 
quo  fit,  ut  agrestes  maxime  sequantur  tunes,  in  quas  ex  agro  evolant 
suapte  sponte  ac  remeant.'  Columella,  1.  c.  'vel  summis  turribus,  vel 
editissimis  aedificiis  assignatae  aedes  frequentant  patentibus  fenestris,  per 
quas  ad  requirendos  cibos  evolitant.' 

turris  is  similarly  used  in  connexion  with  doves  in  A.  A.  ii.  1 50, 
'  quasque  colat  turres,  Chaonis  ales  (  =  columba)  habet ;'  M.  iv.  48,  where 
Dercetis,  changed  into  a  dove,  '  extremos  albis  (so  the  Marcianus)  in 
turribus  egerit  annos ;'  P.  i.  6. 51,  *  prius  incipient  turris  vitare  columbae.* 
There  is  no  reason  why  Mart.  xii.  31.  6  (speaking  of  the  appliances  of 
his  estate), '  quaeque  gerit  similes  Candida  turris  aves,'  should  not  be 
explained  in  the  same  way  :  and  the  words  of  Palladius  (a  late  writer), 
i.  24,  *  columbarium  vero  potest  accipere  sublimis  una  turricula  in  prae- 
torio  [country  seat]  constituta,'  only  prove  that  dove-cots  were  sometimes 
erected  in  the  form  of '  turres.' 


INDEX. 


ab  (*  close  to '),  iii.  29. 
—  otiose,  xi.  12. 
ablative : — 

in  comparisons,  p.  101, 

of  manner,  iv.  9 ;  xi.  5. 
Actorides,  ix.  29. 
adtio,  ix.  22. 
adjectives,  compounds  oiin,  coined 

by  Ovid,  p.  100. 
adstemo,  iii.  43. 
agere  reum,  i.  24. 
Albinovanus  Pedo,  p.  xlvi. 
Alcathous,  X.  39. 
Alexandria,  ii.  80. 
aliquis,  ii.  53,  55. 
Althaea,  vii.  18. 
ambitiosus,  ix.  18. 
anacoluthon,  ix.  41. 
anastrophe  of  preposition,  ix.  II. 
Antimachus,  vi.  1. 
arctos,  ii.  29. 
Ars  Amatoria,  ix.  61. 
Asia  Minor,  cities  of,  ii.  78. 
Atticus,  p.  xliii. 

attraction  of  verb  into  plural,  ii.  I. 
augury,  ix.  49. 
Augustus,  deification   of,   p. 

i".  37  ;  V.  75. 


XX ; 


ausim,  XI.  41, 


Ausonia,  ii.  9^. 

auster,  xi.  1^ 

aut  =  alioquin,  viii.  45. 

axis,  ii.  46 ;  iii.  48 ;  viii.  3. 

Bacchus,  patron  of  poets,  vii.  2. 


ballista,  ii.  48. 

Bear,  constellation  of,  ii.'29  ;  iii.  48. 

bene,  intensive,  vii.  15. 

Bistonius,  x.  23. 

Bizone,  x.  39. 

books,  ancient,  p.  97. 

brachylogy,  i.  1 7. 

Brutus,  p.  xliv }  p.  65. 

cado  (in),  v.  23. 

Caesares,  ii.  104. 

Callisto,  iii.  48. 

Caphereus,  i.  83. 

caput,  legal,  iv.  28  ;  p.  99. 

Cams,  p.  xlv;  p.  75. 

catapulta,  ii.  48. 

Catullus,  iv.  9 ;  pp.  70,  85  ff. 

cave,  i.  25. 

Celsus,  p.  xliii. 

color,  in  rhetoric,  ix.  63. 

comites  ('  clients '),  v.  30, 

compendious  use,  v.  57. 

conceit,  ii.  50. 

conditional  sentence : 

indie,  (without  si)  in  protasis, 

indie,  in  apodosis,  xi.  25. 
indie,   in  protasis,  imperat.  in 

apodosis,  ii.  99. 
imperat.  in  protasis,  indie,  (fut.) 

in  apodosis,  i.  47 ;  ii.  52,  57. 
subjunctive  in  protasis  and  apo- 
dosis, i.  79. 
subjunctive  in  protasis,  fut.  part, 
with  auxiliary  verb  in  apo- 
dosis, i.  125  ;  vi.  14. 


104 

coniectura,  ix.  51. 
contingit,  x.  43. 
contra,  adverb,  x.  ai. 
corpora  ('  grains '),  v.  48. 
Cyaneae,  x,  34. 
Cyclades,  xi.  8. 
Cyzicus,  X.  29. 


Dardanelles,  x.  24. 

Dardania,  x.  25. 

dative  of  agent,  v.  29 ;  vii.  32. 

death  by  drowning,  p.  98. 

debitor,  use  of,  v.  10. 

decumanus  fluctus,  ii.  50. 

deduco,  i.  39. 

deification    of   the    emperor,   see 

Augustus, 
deliciae,  ii.  80. 
deminutio  capitis,  p.  99. 
di  bene,  ii.  41. 

—  faciant,  i.  58. 

—  facerent,  i.  58. 
dico(  =  cano),  ii.  103. 
Dioscuri,    worship   of,    at  Samo- 

thrace,  x.  45. 
doctus,  V.  57. 
donee,  ix.  5. 
doves,  p.  102. 
duco,  of  verse,  xi.  18. 

—  ('I  suck'),  viii.  43. 

dum,  with  perf.  indie,  viii.  23. 

—  with  perf.  indie,  and  imperf.  in- 

die, in  corresponding  clause, 
ix.  17. 

ellipsis,  ii.  41 ;  viii.  29,  33. 

eloquium,  ix.  46. 

epithets,  two  with  one  subst.,  xi.  3. 

Erymanthis,  iv.  i. 

et,  position,  x.  2. 

—  (  =  quamvis),  ix.  35. 
Euryalus,  v.  23. 
Euxinus,  etymology,  x.  4I. 
evinco,  x.  33. 

excutio,  i.  78, 
exilis,  ii.  86. 


INDEX, 


Fabius  Maximus,  p.  xxxvi;  p.  61. 
facio,  construction,  i.  58. 

—  (*I  suit'),  X.  44. 
fame,  vi.  9. 

fas,  ii.  96. 

fatum,  p.  98. 

fero,  of  fate,  iii.  loi. 

—  (*Isay'),  i.  36. 
fibrae,  ix.  49. 
Flaccus,  p.  xxxix. 
focus  (  =  ara),  iii.  43. 
forsitan  with  subj.,  i.  69. 
funus,  iii.  22,  89 ;  vii.  38. 

Gallio,  p.  xlvii. 

genitive  of  gerund  and  gerundive, 

iii.  9. 
Graecinus,  p.  xxxix. 

h,  sound  weak,  i.  16. 

Haemonia,  x.  30. 

hederae,  vii.  a. 

Helle,  X.  15. 

hie,  ix.  12. 

hie  .  . .  ille,  ii.  24. 

hirtus,  iii.  90. 

Homer  imitated,  v.  53,  67. 

horti,  xi.  37. 

Hyades,  xi.  16. 

hypallage,  iii.  6. 

iaceo,  viii.  13. 

iam  tunc,  ix.  41. 

Ibis,  pp.  xvi.  XXV  ;  vi.  13. 

Icarus,  i.  90. 

ille  .  . .  hie,  ii.  24. 

ille  .  .  .  ille,  x.  50. 

illi,  adverb,  i.  17. 

imago,  vii.  I. 

improbus,  xi.  41. 

in  ('  in  respect  of),  ii.  17. 

('  in  the  case  of),  v.  39  ;  ix.  24. 

('in  the  number  of),  iii.  68. 
increpo,  transitive,  iv.  24. 
incustoditus,  vi.  1 1 . 
indicative,  with  ^uod,  i.  2. 
—  for  subj.,  denoting  possibility, 
I  etc,  viii.  17. 


INDEX. 


105 


indicative,  pluperfect,  i.  80. 
infinitive,  after  do,  i.  34. 

—  perfect  for  present,  v.  4. 

—  poetic  use,  i.  132. 
inoffensus,  ix.  i. 
insigne  of  ship,  x.  I. 
invideo,  i.  i. 
invidiosus,  ii.  67. 
Ionian  sea,  iv.  3. 
ipse,  vii.  16,  37. 


laevus,  ii.  83 ;  iv.  19;  xi.  31. 

Lampsacus,  x.  27. 

Laodamia,  vi.  20. 

Lares,  iii.  43. 

lectulus,  xi.  38. 

libellus,  vii.  33. 

Lucretius,  reminiscence  of,  viii.  11, 

42  ;  ix.  13. 
ludo,  of  love  poetry,  ix.  61. 

Macaulay,  his  criticism,  p.  Iv. 
Macer,  Aemilius,  p.  xv. 
Macer,  Pompeius,  p.  xlv. 
Madvig,  V.  i,  4,  23. 
Maeonides,  i.  47. 
magis  (  -  potius),  ii.  89. 
marriage,  legislation  to  promote, 

p.  100. 
media  plebs,  i.  88. 
Meleager,  vii.  18. 
Messalla,  house  of, 

—  pedigree,  p.  xxxiii. 

—  M.  Valerius  Messalla  Corvinus, 

p.  xxx. 

—  M.  Valerius  Corvinus,  Messal- 

linus,  p.  xxxi. 

—  M.  Aurelius  Cotta  Messallinus, 

p.  xxxiii. 
meta,  ix.  i. 
Metamorphoses,   i.  117;    p.   68; 

vii.  13, 19. 
metaphor,  i.  39  ;   iii.  13,  18,  88  ; 

iv.  13,  16;  V.  3,  17;  vii.  19, 

29,  30 ;  ix.  I,  41,  48  ;  xi.  18. 


Mettus  Fufetius,  iii.  73. 

Milesian  colonies  on  the  Euxine, 

X.  41. 
Minerva  bellatrix,  v.  76. 
—  flava,  X.  I. 

Naso,  vii.  10. 
navis,  v.  17. 
Neritius,  v.  57. 
Nisus,  V.  23. 
numen,  ii.  8. 
numeri,  viii.  47. 
numquam,  viii.  23. 

Oedipus,  i.  113. 

omens,  iii.  55  ;  ix.  49. 

omission  of  substantive  verb,  i.17. 

Ophrynium,  p.  84. 

order  of  words,  ii.  109  ;  iii.  16. 

Orestes,  v.  21. 

Ovid,  life,  p.  xi  ff. ;  his  daughter, 
p.  xvii ;  his  third  wife,  pp.  xvi, 
68;  vi.  15  ;  her  daughter,  p. 
xvii;  cause  of  his  banishment, 
p.  xlix  ff. ;  his  voyage  to  Tomi, 
pp.  xix,  83 ;  his  defence  of  his 
life,  ix.  59  ;  his  works,  p.  xxiii 
ff. ;  his  treatment  of  legends, 
ix.  27.  Style  —  p.  liv.  ff. 
coining  of  words,  p.  100; 
conceits,  ii.  50;  repetitions 
(mannerism),  viii.  4 ;  use  of 
strings  of  illustrations,  viii.  i ; 
variety  of  expression,  p.  98 

(ii.  23). 
oxymoron,  iii.  89 ;  iv.  4. 

Palatine  hill,  i.  69. 

Parrhasis,  iii.  48. 

passi  capilli,  i.  12. 

passive  in  middle  sense,  iii.  47. 

Patroclus,  ix.  29. 

Penates,  iii.  43. 

Penelope,  vi.  22. 

penetrale,  i.  105. 

perago  reum,  i.  24. 


io6 


INDEX, 


pereo,  iv.  28. 

Perilla,  pp.  xvii,  xxix. 

person,  change  of,  vii.  40. 

petit  (perfect),  x.  25. 

Philetas,  vi.  2. 

Phoceus,  V.  21. 

plus,  ii.  96. 

play  upon  words,  i.  16 ;  ii.  86  (?) 

Pleiades,  xi.  14, 16. 

plural  (poetic),  ii.  39. 

poetical  inconsistency,  i.  88,  115. 

Pompeius,  Sextus,  pp.  xxxviii,  xl. 

preposition,  anastrophe  of,  vi.  29 ; 

ix.  II. 
princeps,  i.  33 ;  vi.  23. 
prior  ( =secundus),  vi.  19. 
prosody : — 

long  final  vowels  shortened, 
ey  i.  25. 
o,  p.  98  ;  ii.  69,  77  ;  vii.  10. 

quadrisyllabic  ending  of  penta- 
meter, X.  34. 

synizesis,  iii.  92. 

vale  impossible  in  Ovid  viii.  21. 
Protesilaus,  vi.  20. 
proverbial    expressions,     iii.    35  ; 

viii.  I. 
provincial      governors,      accom- 
panied by  their  wives,  iii.  19. 
Py lades,  v.  21. 

quamlibet,  ix.  24. 

quamvis,  with  indie,  i.  25  ;  ii.  11. 

—  with  subj.,  V.  50. 

—  adverbial,  ix.  39. 
qui,  V.  41. 

quid  ('  how  small '),  viii.  1 7. 

rapidus,  use,  vii.  20. 
relative,  restrictive,  vii.  8. 
respicio,  viii.  13. 
rings,  vii.  I.  7. 
Rufinus,  p.  xlvii. 
Rufus,  p.  xvii. 

Salanus,  p.  xlvii. 


Samos  ( =  Same),  v.  67. 
Samothrace,  x.  45. 
sarcina,  iii.  84. 
Severus,  p.  xlvii. 
sic.  .  .  ut,  ix.  62. 
simile,  vi.  11  ;  ix.  13. 

—  compressed,  iii.  73. 
si  quis,  vii.  i. 
sodales,  iii.  65. 
sparsi  capilli,  i.  12. 
Sterope,  xi.  14. 

sto,  ix.  17. 
sub,  ii.  109  ;  iii.  19. 
subjunctive,    consecutive   (restric- 
tive), i.  88;  iii.  102. 

—  hypothetical,  iii.  21;    vi.  29; 

viii.  45. 

—  jussive  (interrogative),  ii.  31. 

—  optative,  i.  58  ;  ix.  3. 

—  of  attendant   circumstance,   ii. 

95  ;  iii.  26. 

—  with  priusquam,  v.  1 3. 

—  with  quod,  i.  20  ;  ii.  84. 
subscribo,  ii.  3. 
Symplegades,  x.  34. 

tamen,  i.  96. 
Telegonus,  i.  1 1 3. 
Telephus,  i.  100. 
Tempyra,  p.  85. 
texta,  iv.  9. 
textual  criticism: — 
gloss,  ii.  78. 
MSS.  of  Tristia,  p.  Ix.  ff. 

„     elegies    wrongly    divided 
in,  p.  75. 

„     lines  transposed  in,  vi.  29. 

„     reading  of,  wrong,  viii.  21. 
Theseus  and  Pirithous,  iii.  66. 
thing  for  person,  v.  36. 
titulus,  i.  53. 
tmesis,  x.  22. 

Tomi,  p.  xix ;  v.  61  ;  x.  41. 
Trojan  race,  founders  of,  x.  25. 
Tumus,  ii.  5. 
turris,  p.  102. 


INDEX. 


107 


tutela  of  ship,  iv.  8 ;  x.  i. 
Tuticanus,  p.  xlviii. 
Tyndaridae,  x.  45. 


vaccimum,  1.  5. 

vale,  indeclinable  substantive,  iii. 

57  ;  viii.  a6. 
vastus,  i.  85. 
vel,  viii.  21. 


Vergil,  reminiscences  of,   ii.   99; 

iii.  25,  93;  iv.  6;  viii.  41,  42; 

ix.  49  ;  x.  7  ;  xi.  23. 
vesper,  ii.  28. 
Vestalis,  p.  xlviii. 
ullus,  with  negatives,  v.  i. 
Vlysses,  i.  ii3;ii.  9;  v.  57;  vi.  22. 
ut  in  indirect  questions,  ix.  7. 

Zerynthus,  p.  84. 


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Latin  Exercises,  by  g.  g.  Ramsav.    in  3  volumes.   Voi.  i. 

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^     mediately). 

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in  Greek  Prose  Composition.     By  C.  S.  Jerram  .     2s.  6d. 

Latin  and  Greek  Verse 

Helps  and  Exercises  for  Latin  Elegiacs.    By 

H.  Lee-Warxer.     3s.  6d. 

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W.  H.  D.  RorsE.    Crown  Hvo.    4s.  6d.    (Exercises  and  versions.) 

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Lee- Warner's  Helps  and  Exercises,  price  4s.  6"d.  net ; 

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Fox  and  Bromley's  Models  and  Exercises,  price  6d.  net ; 

are'supplied  to  teachers  and  private  students  only,  on  application 
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11 


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peu  plus  eleve.' 

Speaker.— 'The  all-round  excellence  of  the  new  Oxford  Classical  Texts  is  now 
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